Konoha Files
by MummaPaintstheBlues
Summary: Exactly one year since his partner's untimely murder, Detective Kakashi Hatake is forced back into active duty. He is paired with up and coming Detective Sakura Haruno. Through their work together not only do they catch a killer, but Kakashi begins to see a fresh new hope to the dismal world around him. But is this new partnership enough for him to abandon the darkness altogether?
1. Chapter 1

Winter had brought with it the customary damp misery that coated everything inside and out. The cold February rain blurring from one day to the next. It was all the usual humdrum of the city that would eventually fade into spring. Except it was anything but the typical winter for Detective Kakashi Hatake.

The patter of the rain on his back had long soaked through his jacket, dripping down the ridge of his nose, through the scarf wrapped around his chin. The cold numbing sensation seemed to soak right through to his very bones. But he would not move, not for another ten minutes at least.

It had been one year today, one year of visiting this miserable plot of earth that held the remains of his best friend and partner. He traced the name etched onto that gravestone, the only physical connection to Obito that was left.

"Sorry I'm late, Obito. Old habits die hard it seems."

Speaking to him had become a private solace, a daily reprieve from the torture of his work. It was something that he considered as necessary as breathing. A secret he kept from everyone, therapists, even the chief of police herself. And while Obito could never answer him directly, it felt like a disservice to his memory not to give him the daily updates. It also served to quieten the horrifying voices that plagued him when things were too quiet.

_If only I'd gotten there sooner. _

Kakashi ignored the vibrating of the phone in his pocket. He still had another eight minutes to spend here quietly with his partner. The sigh of relief as the caller gave up cast mist into the cold air. Kakashi prepared to give Obito the rundown of what had happened that morning, how they were all going to the bar later to drink in his memory, when his phone started up again.

Rolling his eyes he ignored it once more. Waiting for it to stop completely before opening his mouth to speak.

"Well, this is the plan for today…"

Kakashi stopped mid sentence. He had to. The phone was vibrating for a third time, and if they cared enough to call him three times in a row on today of all days, it needed to be answered.

"Sorry again, Obito. I better take this…"

He didn't even bother looking at the screen before swiping and bringing it to his ear.

"Hatake."

The line was silent on the other end for only a second before the tirade began.

"_Get. Your. Ass. Here. Now."_

"And good morning to you too, sweet Captain. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"_Don't you sass me boy. You know exactly what this is about. Get your ass to the station now. You answered that radio message an hour ago and you're still not here, the Commissioner is breathing down MY neck, so I will make it YOUR problem Kakashi…"_

"Surely the Commissioner isn't immune to your charm, Tsunade. Why, just the sound of your voice puts me in a sparkling mood…."

"_DETECTIVE HATAKE." _The use of his title in her booming shrill voice caused him to hold the mobile away from his ear. "_I know what today is, but you need to get here now. We have a...situation."_

There were few people left whom Kakashi trusted implicitly, Captain Tsunade was one of them. And the tone of her voice was one that he recognized in all serious, despite the joy he reserved in making the woman angry, it was time to come in.

"Be there in 5."

He didn't wait to hear her reply, hanging up and putting the phone in his pocket. With a sigh and a nod to Obito's name he turned to the entrance of the graveyard.

"Duty calls, Obito. See you later."

The station was lively, which was an omen in and of itself. It did not bode well in Kakashi's mind. Skipping the pleasantries with the clerks and police officers mulling around the precinct lobby, he bolted to the elevator. The doors were closing before he reached them, he resigned himself to waiting for the next. The prospect of small talk with those around him increased, much to his chagrin. There was nothing he detested more than small talk, especially with these people, those who knew what today meant for him. It was all in their eyes as they watched his every move.

He was pleasantly surprised when a hand appeared to stop the elevator doors, sliding between them quickly. They reopened, Kakashi quickly taking in the sight of the woman before him before stepping inside. Nodding his thanks, the woman nodded back, the shock of pink hair on her head neatly bobbing on her shoulders. Once he might have verbally thanked her for holding the elevator doors, but he kept his mouth firmly shut. Avoiding small talk was one of his special skills and he knew that any words now would prompt such conversation.

Kakashi watched as she hit the button for the third floor. A happy coincidence as that was where he was heading himself. But he had to wonder what business a young woman like this had with the CID. The Criminal Investigation Department was not a place for the faint hearted. If he didn't detest small talk so much he might've inquired as to why she was there, or who she was looking for.

Fortunately for Kakashi, he wouldn't have much time left to ponder. The doors opened and he could already hear Tsunade's shouting. It was a category three storm of a sound that penetrated his ears at a decibel surely not appropriate for humans. Out of curiosity he glanced to the woman next to him, but she was already moving, so he was unable to gauge her reaction to the din.

"This is _absurd. _I will _not _have this kind of ridiculous behaviour in my own department!"

"Yes Ma'am."

"And _where is that godforsaken man… _Five minutes my ass, it's been at least ten and if I have to wait one more goddamn minute I'll have his entrails for breakfast."

"It's only been seven minutes, Captain. It would have been six but I had to stop to help a poor defenseless kitten from a terrible fate…"

"Kakashi Hatake, I am. Not. In. The. Mood."

Tsunade's booming voice across the bull pen almost caused Kakashi to falter in his step, but curiosity was indeed getting the better of him this morning. The sheer volume alone would have been enough to keep him moving swiftly, but it was the crowd rapidly dispersing from the witness room that piqued him suitably. Something was up.

Tsunade had a hand to her forehead, eyes closed in frustration, Kakashi knew the woman well enough to gauge the level of her anger. Now was not the time for quick witted quips. So he stood in front of her, waiting for the storm to pass over. Or rather, waiting for her to unleash the rest of the storm in his general direction.

It was then that he noticed through the window to the witness room what might have triggered the Captain's rage.

"Explain to me, Hatake, why there are two… _disgusting, raucous _fifteen year old boys filling up my witness room with farts and god only knows what else…"

"They came back? In my defense I told them not to bother…"

"Kakashi, they're claiming to have found a human skull and they won't leave until _you _go with them to see it. Now tell me, why, on earth didn't you properly investigate this when they first came in? Hmm? Why must I suffer through their obnoxious and disgusting behaviour in my own damn precinct…"

"Mah, I can explain Captain."

"Please, by all means, because I would like to know exactly what will be used in my assault trial after I kick your ass with all these witnesses."

If Kakashi wasn't giving the Captain his undivided attention in a bid to sway her anger, he might have noticed the bob of neat pink hair standing in his peripheral vision. Waiting just outside of Tsunade's wrath.

"They're just a couple of kids playing hookie trying to get a free pass out of school. They got busted by a beat cop coming back from the lake yesterday afternoon and came up with a story to get out of trouble. That's all. I told them not to come back unless they had proof…"

"Kakashi, I don't care what you do, just get them out of here. Go with them for god's sake, confirm it's just a story. If you'd just done that in the first place…"

"What proof did they come back with?"

A soft spoken voice cut through the conversation. Kakashi and Tsunade turning to its source, the pink haired woman from the elevator. He might've raised an eyebrow at her brazen question, but he would let the Captain handle this situation.

"Excuse me?"

_Here we go. _

"Forgive me, but you…" Her eyes locked on to Kakashi's, "you told them not to come back unless they had proof. What was it?"

While Kakashi almost smugly glanced back to Tsunade, expecting her wrath to descend upon this upstart young woman, he was unfortunately surprised. It never came. Instead the older woman gave a side smile, her eyes sparkling with untold mischief. All of a sudden Kakashi was fearful for a whole other reason. While he trusted the Captain and all her infinite wisdom, she was still capable of making his life a living hell for the foreseeable future.

"They can't possibly have anything…"

"Well, Kakashi, why don't you just go in there and find out hmm? Do your job for a change. And you, must be my new detective."

"Yes Ma'am, Sakura Haruno."

The two exchanged a handshake as Kakashi watched on with a skeptical brow raised. Just what in the hell was going on here? New detective.

"Good, I like your gumption Detective Haruno. It's just what this jaded piece of shit needs in a partner…"

"Partner?" Kakashi rounded on Tsunade no longer afraid of her temper. "What do you mean partner?"

The foreboding smugness practically oozing from her was palpable.

"It's about time you got serious Kakashi, and got back into work properly. Instead of using my damn precinct as a daycare center for a job _you should have taken care of immediately."_

"I have only one partner, got that? And without him I work alone…" He no longer cared if his voice was raised, if others could hear him, or where he was.

"No Kakashi!" Tsunade held her palm up, her temper fading to something else but Kakashi didn't really care for it right now, it felt like pity. "You don't work at all, and it's time to put you back to good use. I need you to." She softened. "Detective Haruno is new, but I've heard some excellent things about her work already. She should be able to whip you back into shape…"

"But…"

"No arguing Hatake! Get to it! If you'd just done your damned job in the first place we wouldn't have this situation and I wouldn't have to pull rank to get your sorry ass doing some proper work."

With that she stormed off, stamping towards her office before slamming the door shut with such a force the slatted blinds shook. Kakashi stared at the door as if to call the Chief back by force of will alone, to make her take back everything she had just said. But it was to no avail.

"You must be Kakashi Hatake, it's an honor to be working with you…"

"Yeah, we'll see." He ignored her outstretched hand, refusing to shake it just yet. It might seem petty, but damned if he wasn't allowed to be petty today of all days.

He cast a brief eye over his new 'partner'. She was professionally dressed, tidy, slimly built but fit. That shiny new badge on her hip was something he hadn't noticed before, it wasn't facing him directly in the elevator, but it stood out to him now. When this new detective spoke again she caught him off guard completely, maybe it was because today was Obito's anniversary, maybe he was just off his game more than usual. He couldn't be certain, but she got to him.

"Look, you've got two options here. Let me talk to those boys, get the proof or whatever it is they came back with, get them out of the station like the Captain wants. I could make this simple, easy for you even. Or, you can fight this. Piss Tsunade off more, and I'll find another partner. I just want to work, and I know my worth, I don't need to be partnered with someone who isn't going to pull their own weight."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed, this little upstart of a woman had no idea who she was dealing with. What information did she hope to gain from two questionable fifteen year old boys? It was a wild goose chase, and one that Kakashi had seen a million times in his long career. This green detective could run around in circles as much as she liked, he would watch and laugh.

"By all means, Detective Haruno. After you…" He gestured to the witness room. She looked a little dumbstruck for a moment before nodding and actually moving.

Kakashi followed behind her, watching every step. It was reticent of him perhaps, not to care one iota about this woman in front of him, who she was or where she'd come from. It seemed to him that she had been sent to specifically ruin his day. One thing was for sure, she was never going to be his partner.

Opening the interview room door he could already hear the shushing of the teenage boys, Kakashi didn't even disguise the eye roll. It was the typical nonsense time wasting that plagued his day to day.

"Alright, boys."

As soon as they heard his voice the two were quick to groan and shout obscenities. They were immediately silenced when Detective Haruno followed into the room. Seeing any kind of remotely attractive woman at their age was probably a rarity, let alone being shut in a room with one.

"Gentleman."

This ridiculous pink haired woman appeared to be trying to appeal to these grimy kids for whatever reason. Why else would she call them 'gentleman' while room did indeed reek of a musty combination of body odour and gas.

"H...Hey, she wasn't here yesterday! I like her!"

"Easy boys." Kakashi caught her displeased eye and decided to speak no further. He wouldn't have to in any case. She had said she was going to take care of this, and that she was.

"What have you got for me today sweethearts?"

The two boys exchanged very quick glances with each other before answering both at once, competing with the other for her attention.

"We were fishing in the lake…"

"I'll tell it! I'm the one who caught it!"

"Like hell you did! You screamed and dropped the rod, _I _was the one who hauled the skull up!"

Sakura sat in the chair across the table from the boys, putting a hand to her chin.

"So you're the two I heard about who found the skull."

"You heard about me?"

"Shut up! She was talking to me!"

"Boys!" It would have been a good Tsunade impression except for the soft look on her face. "You were told by my… colleague here, to come back with proof. So what have you got for me?"

Now the boys looked each other with an entirely different expression. The kind of fear one sees in the eyes of an animal. With trembling hands one of the boys took a cellphone out of his pocket. They remained uncharacteristically silent. Sakura directed her attention to the boy.

"What's your name, young man?"

"Konohamaru…" He mumbled out.

"That's a sweet name. And what's your name?"

"Udon."

"Konohamaru, Udon. Would you like to show me what you've brought?"

They both nodded in reply. Slowly, Konohamaru handed the phone over to Sakura. She thanked them warmly and stood. Kakashi thought it odd, that suddenly these nonsense boys were all seriousness and brooding. Was the unthinkable possible? Had they really discovered something?

With her back to the two boys, Sakura didn't even bother to glance at Kakashi before she swiped the phone unlocked. He stepped closer to take a look at the screen. The first image in the gallery being an unclear picture, of what appeared to be a skull on the shore of the lake, sitting on the grass. At a first glance Kakashi assumed it was a rock with holes, something that could easily spook two young boys.

He didn't hide another eye roll, exhaling loudly at the waste of time this had inevitably turned out to be. It was a very rare occurrence that he ever turned out to be wrong, after all.

But then he watched as Detective Haruno zoomed in on the picture and his expression became something else. Something much more serious.

"That looks…." Her words were softly spoken, likely for the benefit of the teenagers behind her which Kakashi thought odd.

"It's too unclear to be certain. We'll have to take a better look."

He watched as she swallowed and nodded slowly, before turning back to face the boys. While her face was a study of impassiveness, there was the slightest trembling of her hands as she handed the cellphone back to the boy.

If these boys had really fished up a skull, and he'd not only ignored them, but subjected them to the wrath of the Captain… it was time to throw them a bone. And this, as a detective's first case, well it wouldn't sit right to let her fend for herself the whole way.

It didn't mean she was his partner or anything close.

It just meant that he would come across as less of a colossal asshole.

_It's what Obito would've done._

"Come on boys, we're going on a field trip."

Both Konohamaru and Udon perked up considerably at Kakashi's words.

"Seriously? Do we get to go in a cruiser?"

"Not quite, you'll have to settle for a shitty detectives sedan. But I'll put the lights on and drive at full speed if you behave yourselves."

"Yes, sir!"

There was one thing to be said in favor for this new detective. Throughout the entire thirty minute journey to their destination, she hadn't spoken one word, and for Kakashi this was a definite bonus. His mind was already too tumultuous to maintain any more mundane chatter, considering what today marked for him. Then there was the added possibility that he might actually have been wrong about something. A rare and terrifying experience for Kakashi's mind.

If that really was a human skull sitting by the river, fished up by two teenagers no less, Tsunade would hold it over him for all eternity. He would then be forced to partner up with this new detective, or whoever else the Captain threw at him, and _everything would be ruined. _All his research… the progress he was quietly making on _the _case. The only case he ever wanted or needed to solve. His purpose for being.

Find who killed Obito.

Find them and exact the justice that was coming to them. Until then there would be no peace for Kakashi's mind, and he didn't deserve one ounce of peace anyway. Not until he had found the culprit.

The decidedly dark turn of his thoughts must have unwittingly shone through his driving, gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles, jaw clenched. He noticed that, though she was silent, Detective Haruno looked decidedly terrified.

"How far away is it?" He called to the boys in the back.

"If you park somewhere around the next corner, there's a trail that leads right to the lake."

Kakashi tried to catch Sakura's eye. That would be a good detail to remember for later, if this was a body dump it would be the easiest way to access the lake by a car. Then again, this might not have been worth the drive to begin with. As he rounded the corner Kakashi debated whether to park closer to the trail, to make things go just that much quicker, or to park safely a few feet back. Any tire impressions would long be gone, but it was protocol, and who knew what evidence might be lying in the grass...

_Now you're thinking like a detective again... instead of a paranoid maniac._

The thought crossed his mind briefly and for some reason it sounded just like Obito's deep timbre. It was fitting that the voice of conscious that haunted him sounded like the man he had failed to save. It made him bitter, but it was a punishment he deserved. _If only he had gotten there sooner._

With a little more force than necessary Kakashi turned the wheel, pulling in to the roadside a good ten feet away from where the trail obviously began. It was now that Sakura caught his eye, she must have understood the reason behind the distance because all she did was nod and open the car door.

Once the boys had been let out, they took the lead along the path. Kakashi falling into stride beside Sakura. She made a throat clearing noise as if to gain his attention, but it could have been out of nerves. Either way, he didn't really care.

"Listen, Detective Hatake. I just, wanted to thank you, for before."

"Thank me? What for?"

She now most definitely had his attention. Being thanked was not something he was accustomed to in any form of the word.

"With the boys, in the witness room. I know what you did. I just wanted to say that I appreciate it, you not making fun of me for faltering. As a woman on the force... well, you get it. I just wanted to say thanks."

Kakashi was a little dumbfounded, he gave her a studious gaze from the corner of his eye while trying to keep watch of the boys ahead. The path was treacherous and covered in mud.

"Well, at least we agree on something now."

"Hmm? What would that be?"

"They are most definitely _boys, _and not _gentleman. _Nice tactic by the way."

A smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

"Thanks."

Kakashi nodded and they fell back into silence. Maybe she wasn't so bad, but she was a far cry from the partner he had lost too soon. It was also too soon to replace him. How could anyone replace Obito? It was an impossibility, one didn't work without the other… it was how it had always been.

When the boys came to a standstill just beside a row of shrubs it was clear that they were willing to go no further. They had reached the destination. With gentle taps to the shoulders and a few soothing words, Detective Haruno at least made them less terrified by the time Kakashi walked past them.

Stepping over the grass and shrubs and onto the soft bed of the river's edge, the lapping of the water reached his ears. The pungent smell of wet things attacking his sensitive olfactory senses. But what struck him most, was a shard of white, peaking out of the grass. Sakura slowly came to stand next to him, but the closer they got the clearer it became.

This was no rock, this was a human skull. There was still tissue embedded in some areas.

It was also clear that this was foul play. The teeth had been removed, the sinister cuts along the skull. Kakashi stood back with a sigh and pulled out his cell.

"It's real."

"Excellent deduction Detective," Kakashi laced with sarcasm. "Congratulations, your first case is a murder."

It only took two swipes of his thumb to get the precinct on the line. Tsunade was going to have a fucking field day about dredging this lake, along with everything else. Kakashi at least considered a fitting way to honor Obito, pissing the Captain off to new and exciting levels. By the time he'd hung up the phone he was curiously watching as Detective Haruno scribbled notes on a pad, using her phone every so often to take pictures. She appeared to be studious and careful not to touch things.

With a deep sigh he turned back towards the trail.

"Where are you going? Shouldn't we wait until forensics get here? What about chain of custody…"

"Oh, they'll be here soon." Already in the distance Kakashi could discern the helicopters with his above average hearing. "Someone has to take these boys home. And I need to get moving if I want to make the plant store by 6."

"Plant… plant store? Are you _insane_?"

"This is going to take more than a gas station offering, Haruno."

The puzzled look on her face was something he liked for whatever reasons. It beguiled him, revived the detective that had been lying dormant in him for the past year. This was going to be her first case, and it would likely be a good one, _if _they could solve it. And at least he could train her in a way to make sure tragedies like Obito never happened again… it was the least he could do.

"You coming?" He called over his shoulder with a smile. She still looked puzzled but eventually she begrudgingly complied.

"Do I have a choice?"


	2. Chapter 2

Time seemed to be uncharacteristically on Kakashi's side this evening. Not only were the boys statements taken swiftly by Detective Haruno, the good plant store was still open. He'd even made it five minutes before closing.

"Why are we here? Shouldn't we be going back to the scene to meet with the medical examiner?"

"All in good time, Haruno." As they entered Kakashi made a beeline to the indoor potted plants, he was unfortunately all too familiar with this section of the store. "First things first, we need to find just the right one…"

"For what?"

Kakashi paused and considered his answer, and he really should answer properly. But it was alarmingly entertaining for him at this point to keep her in the dark. Part of it stemming from his general dislike of explaining any of his actions, but now it was mostly for his own amusement.

_You're an asshole, Kakashi._

He smirked at the tone of Obito his conscience had taken.

The minutes passed in silence, he was in no hurry at this point. But if he preemptively purchased a plant now it would afford him a little time later on, and the more wilted it became in the back of his sedan the happier Yamato would be… Even if the man wouldn't admit to it directly.

It was sometime before Kakashi found what he was looking for. An almost depressing imitation of what was once a glossy leaved flower of some kind. Picking it up he nudged past Haruno on his way to the counter.

"That one's kinda sad, wouldn't one of these be better?"

"The sadder the better, Haruno."

The cashier shot him an odd expression, her long blond hair covering one eye but not enough to hide the disdain she obviously felt. Kakashi put on his best charming smile and it seemed to do the trick.

The ride back to the scene was in blissful silence. Sakura hadn't said a word, though he could tell she was merely waiting for an opportunity to ask again about the potted plant now safely belted into the back seat. Her eyes remained steely and concentrating on the road ahead of them, unwavering, almost too concentrated. When the car pulled up alongside the hoards of other vehicles now gathered at the scene, Haruno exited the vehicle so quickly that Kakashi took note.

Perhaps it was because she was brand new to the game, perhaps he was just feeling extra sentimental considering what today meant to him….But she became another puzzle, added to the case, that he would need to solve. And as a detective it was a need to delve into the unknown and reveal the truth.

Why she was so silent, so studious, despite this being her first case as a detective… it was all confounding to Kakashi. Without his express permission a mass recall of early memories as a young investigator flooded to his mind.

_Those were the days, right Kakashi?_

Obito hit the nail on the head, even if it was only his conscience and memory of Obito. How was Sakura able to keep so calm, so quiet? It was only when they paused briefly in the trek back to the lakeside that she said anything.

Sakura had been walking ahead of him, but stopped, placing her hand to the trunk of a tree. Kakashi wondered if she had found evidence of some kind but instead she took deep steadying breaths, and when he caught up it was obvious that her eyes were closed.

Kakashi almost smirked, this was inevitable for new detectives on a murder case. Or at least what appeared to be a murder. It was an unsettling nausea at the confronting sight that was death. Maybe she wasn't so unique after all…

"Alright there, Haruno?"

She took a deep breath, straightened herself, and smiled at him. All so unexpected, Kakashi was immediately taken aback again by her attitude.

"I'm fine. Just not used to your way of driving… It'll pass."

They began walking slowly, side by side, Kakashi feeling a little perturbed by her words.

"You get motion sickness, huh? That explains why you were so quiet."

"Mmm, not especially, just when hurtled at speeds above sane limits."

He huffed despite himself.

"Well next time, you can drive. How does that sound?"

"Only if you take the statements…"

Kakashi paused, confused.

"This isn't a bargaining situation, Haruno. I'm only offering so you don't get sick, out of courtesy…"

"Uh huh, and that would mean I'm doing all the grunt work for you. Driving, taking statements….You won't con me so easily, Hatake. We're in this 50/50."

"You know, you appear far too seasoned for this to be your first case as Detective. It has me awfully suspicious."

This time Sakura huffed.

"And you've obviously never been partnered with a woman before." How she was so short, and yet still managed to look down her nose at him as she spoke was a trick that defied logic itself. "Let's just say, I know your kind well enough."

There wasn't another opportunity for Kakashi to make a comeback, or to ponder at the tone of her voice and what it meant, they had reached the taped border of the scene. Nodding to the officers and forensics alike, Kakashi followed Sakura as she made a beeline straight to the medical examiner. Huddled with her back to them, Kakashi could recognise the woman from the shape of her head alone.

Tsunade had really pulled no punches with this one, calling in the very top examiner in the state. They had met several times before, the last being exactly one year earlier.

"Shizune!" Sakura called, surprisingly chirpy, it was such a happy greeting that Kakashi slowed in his steps.

"Hmm, oh, Sakura! It's lovely to see you!"

The pair began to titter away about something not pertaining to the case, Kakashi didn't really care to listen. Instead he approached them and cleared his throat in a rather auspicious way.

"So it's true, you were paired up with Hatake. I'm so sorry, Sakura. Just try your very best not to pick up any of his bad habits…."

"Nice to see you again too, Shizune. Now, what can you tell me?"

It was nice at least that she wasn't treating him with kid gloves like the others had done after Obito… but some civility would have been a better start. It didn't matter. In any case he tried to ignore the dramatic eye roll and huff as she crossed her arms and crouched near the skull again.

"I'm not a miracle worker, Kakashi. There is some tissue clinging to the inside of the skull, so I don't believe she was in the water for long, though we won't know for certain until tests come back."

"She?" Sakura and Kakashi both choroused.

"Judging by the rounded forehead and smooth supraorbital ridge, as well as the general size of the skull itself, strongly suggests female. I may be able to extract DNA from the tissue that remains, depending on how degraded it is. But with nothing to compare it to, and no teeth to make a dental comparison either, she's going to be Jane Doe for a while."

"Age?" Again, Sakura and Kakashi spoke in unison, this time it prompted a quick exchange of the eyes before focusing back on Shizune. Who was harboring possibly the most demonic look Kakashi had ever seen on the medical examiner.

"Again, I'm not a miracle worker. My guess is under thirty judging by the cranial suturing that is visible but I'm not gonna know more until we're back at the lab."

Kakashi was almost hesitant to speak now, opening his mouth to do so before pausing. And as if to confirm his suspicions, Haruno asked the question that had been on his lips.

"Is there anything hinting cause of death so far?"

"Not sure yet, there's some markings on the skull, could be blunt force trauma. At this stage those could be from rolling around on the river bed. It's anyone's guess at the moment." Shizune paused, jotting down something in a pad quickly before returning that demonic eye to ogle them. "You two are polar opposites but you already work so well together…"

The comment caused Sakura to blush, something he caught in his peripheral vision, but Kakashi was seasoned enough to this behaviour. He rolled his eyes rather dramatically before replying.

"Calm down, Shizune. We don't all put out on the first date…" He turned slowly, satisfied at the yelping that followed.

"Genma told you! I can't believe that man, when I get my hands on him I'll skin him alive…"

"Nice seeing you!" Kakashi called over his shoulder before making his way back to the trail. There was small commotion to be heard behind him, but he wasn't paying much attention to that. In the waning light he tried his utmost to take in the surroundings and anything that could be useful later. But forensics would pick up that slack for him, and he could always come back later.

Crunching of leaves and twigs behind him, followed by the wafting scent of something sweet, Haruno had caught up.

"I don't think I've ever seen her that angry…" Sakura half stuttered as she tried to keep his pace, her shorter legs making twice the work for her.

"You'll get used to it. Believe me." Kakashi paused for thought, deciding to just be outright with the question even if he didn't really care if she answered. "You already familiar with the medical examiner?"

"Mmhmm. Shizune was one of my professors."

"I didn't realize she lectured criminology…"

"That's because she lectures in forensic mortuary practise."

They had just reached the car, Kakashi throwing Haruno the keys before opening the passengers side. Sakura shrugged, almost falling into the driver's seat before adjusting it for her stature. Kakashi made a mental note that he would need to adjust it all the way back before he next drove, or he would never be able to fit in the vehicle.

"You studied medicine?"

Usually he wouldn't be quite so fastidious about clicking the seat belt to his waist, but there was a nagging thought in his mind that he may be needing the protection today.

"Mmhmm. Are you going to tell me exactly where I'm driving to? Is there another plant store open in the county that we need to hit urgently or will gas station flowers satisfy your need?"

"Haha, very funny Haruno. There is method to my madness, you'll learn soon enough. Speaking of which I thought perhaps, seeing as we'll be waiting on forensics now, that I would show you the true meaning of detective work back at the precinct…"

"Really?" It came out more skeptical than an actual question, deadpan as she started the motor.

"Don't sound so cynical. I am first and foremost a detective, with a reputation to uphold too, I'll add."

"Alright then…"

Sakura still appeared to be dubious as they drove at a safe speed through the village. There was just a hint of a smile on her face that Kakashi could see in his peripheral, and it pleased him to no end that she had fallen for the line.

Soon enough that smile would be wiped clean.

_Thwack._

The stack of files hit the desk with an audible thud, Kakashi satisfied with the slightest of jumps from Sakura.

"What is…"

"This, Haruno, is the _true _meaning of being a detective." The way those big eyes of hers shot to his was perfect timing for delivering the final blow. "Paperwork."

"You've got to be kidding…"

"I am... this is only half of it. The other half is done through our online systems now."

"So these are…"

"Just the missing person reports for females aged early to late twenties in the area. But seeing as we're doing this 50/50, I'll take half the stack, sound fair?"

"Yeah, but how do…"

"Good."

With a forced smile that was all smugness and perverse joy Kakashi took half the pile of folders and walked over to his own desk before she could finish asking her question. The online system they were using was nightmare enough with years of experience using it under his belt. It delighted him more than it should, watching her muddle through, trying to log in and failing immediately. He scoffed, picking up his own papers and lazily beginning the process.

It was going to take weeks just to get anything close to an identity of the victim. These new detectives thought it was all sleuthing, gun toting and catching serial killers. But this was the heart of bureaucracy and detective work.

_If only Obito had stayed at his desk that day..._

The thought entered as quickly as it left and it was here that Kakashi felt a pang of guilt. It was still the anniversary after all, and here he was torturing a new recruit instead of honoring his best friend's memory. There wasn't any need to be a dick about it. It was just that moody helpless feeling taking over, lashing out on those around him, that frustration at the way the world had to be now without Obito there to guide him.

With a sigh of indignation Kakashi looked over to Haruno's desk. She was very carefully going through the files, and though he couldn't see her face, he imagined she was deep in concentration. Maybe he didn't need to babysit her all the way, maybe he'd been right in his instinct to throw her in it and make her work. It had worked for Kakashi anyway, Captain Minato had been meticulous with his training regime in every aspect. It was just a shame that it hadn't saved either of his partners... Obito, Rin, the former Captain himself. All gone now. He was the only one left.

So maybe things did need to change, maybe there was a way he could train Haruno to be not only be a great detective, but one that _lived. _Succumbing to the wave of nostalgia Kakashi kept his gaze on the back of her pink head of hair.

_Well, at least there's no risk of losing her in a crowded area._

This time his thoughts had taken Obito's voice once more, causing him to exhale loudly in amusement before turning back to his work. For now at least Obito's voice and heart were alive within him and that would be enough to keep him going until he could finally lay him to rest. Until he could finally serve justice.

His mind threatened to drift from the case that was in front of him, and for Kakashi that signaled it was time for dinner.

"Haruno, you hungry?" Kakashi rummaged through his desk for his keys and wallet, there was no answer from Sakura. "Haruno..."

Still no answer.

"Sakura?"

"Hmm? What, oh sorry, I was just... ugh..."

"You were caught up in the case, I get it. You will need to eat though. Hungry?" He was already standing and putting his jacket on, surprised to find Sakura shaking her head and diving right back into whatever it was she had been reading. "Your loss."

Leaving the building with another sigh he considered his options at this point. The murder case wasn't exactly going to lead anywhere quickly so it wouldn't be out of the question to drive back home and get a fresh start in the morning. But that meant leaving Haruno, a new detective on her first murder case, to her own devices. His conscience (and Obito for that matter) couldn't justify that action in his mind; even if it was the anniversary.

As Kakashi headed to the Chinese takeaway down the street, on foot, he considered that perhaps Haruno had only been feigning interest in something else. That after his behavior she just didn't want to spend any more time that necessary with him. And while she was a veritable stranger, that thought still bothered him more than it should. It began to eat at him.

_He needed to do better, be better._

But what was the point? As soon as this fiasco was dealt with, he would be diving head first back into the now cold case of his former partner's murder. That was the only case that mattered...

_But Sakura isn't a case number, Kakashi._

He paused in his step. As usual, Obito had hit the crux of the issue, he'd always been more knowledgeable when it came to subjective matters like thoughts and feelings. Kakashi was grateful that at least some of Obito's good nature had worn off on him a little, enough to be able to function in normal society anyway.

First things first, food, then apologize to Sakura.

He wasn't so old that he should be fighting change so much. While 39 didn't exactly make him a spring chicken in any case it was definitely not old enough to become the grumpy embittered veteran of the precinct. Tsunade wore that hat well enough thank you very much.

Unsure what Sakura would want to eat, Kakashi settled for a combination of the best the place had to offer. And if she turned him down he would feast like a king for the rest of the week.

As usual, whenever Detective Hatake had a spare moment these days, he took his time. While he walked slowly back towards the precinct it gave him time to form a script of sorts in his mind. By the time he had reached the doors the plan in his mind was iron clad and ready to be unleashed. An hour might have passed since he'd left, maybe more if you counted the small detour he'd made to the corner store for a pack of cigarettes. When his desk and Sakura's came into view he was slightly perturbed that she hadn't moved one inch. She was holding that same piece of paper and appeared to be as still as a statue.

Damnable curiosity spiked, Kakashi approached cautiously.

"Ah, Haruno."

Again it was like she had fallen into a trance and words were not going to reach her easily.

"Sakura. You were staring at that page when I left... Are you alright?"

She nodded slowly but her bulging eyes would not leave the sheet of paper. Kakashi hated asking that question but he hated not having a direct answer to it even more. Despite his own annoyance, he dared to look at the paper that had her so enraptured, recognizing the skull they had found staring back at him.

Call it detective's intuition, or some other unknown and mysterious force, but a familiar prickling sensation occurred on the back of his neck. It was the same feeling he'd had once, long ago... when Obito would come up with an idea that was too crazy not to work.

"Found something?" He asked cautiously.

This time the question had reached her, green eyes turned to his with sudden clarity as if they only just realized he was there. She nodded faster this time. Kakashi deposited the bag of food behind him onto his own desk before wheeling a chair closer to hers.

"What have you got?"

"Well, Shizune sent me a photo of the skull after she'd cleaned it a little, hardly the best quality but it was all I could do with this stupid system that..."

Kakashi cleared his throat, _get to the point._

"Right, anyway. It was impossible to zoom in any further..." She tapped away at her mouse on the screen to bring up the same image that was on the paper. "And I thought at first that it was a printing fault, but I'm certain, see this..."

She indicated to what appeared to be a slight nick on the bone, Kakashi nodded.

"This mark appears in a few places, this one is the most clear, but there are other marks... Here and here..."

"Cause of death?"

She shook her head no.

"These nicks are not uniform in pattern and there's two distinctly different ones. About a dozen of each. Which tells me that two different tools were used..."

"Someone hacked the flesh off our vic..."

Sakura nodded again, her eyes wide on Kakashi while he grabbed the photo to bring it closer to his face. One day he might tell her of the unfortunate case that had desensitized him to this kind of vile act, but it would not be today. She was right, he could see it himself, it also explained why all the teeth were missing. They had been pulled from the jaw. After a moment of reflection he turned his attention instead to the brilliant mind that had figured this out on her first day on the job.

"How did you find this so quickly?"

"Well, when I worked surgical, we would get patients in who had been in accidents with farming equipment, you name it basically. We had one dolt who put alternating blades on his rotary hoe, made them himself... You can't imagine... Anyway, the point is, the cuts on his bones in the xray were similar."

"You didn't just study medicine then, you practiced?"

"Well, yeah. I was a surgeon for five years at Konoha Grace."

"You can't be older than 25, surely..."

Sakura had a flair of her nostrils at this point that reminded him so much of Tsunade that Kakashi was tempted to guard his loins.

"Not that it's any of your business, but I just turned 30. I'm allowed to change my vocation when I see fit, and it's not up to anyone else..."

"Sakura, nice work."

The complement was honest, it came from his own thought patterns as they descended into this case before him. Both the murder, and the mystery of why she was really here and not practicing. Working her up had not been his intention, in fact he had only approached her to apologize to begin with.

Those words seemed to stop her momentum. Though her brow was furrowed in a kind of skeptic stance, she softened.

"Thanks."

"I mean it. You've saved me days of work."

"Saved _us, _Kakashi, _us." _She stood and stretched with a noise. Being stuck in that craned position for hours had taken its toll. "Oh, you brought food! Excellent, I'm starved."

"What are you doing?"

Kakashi stood just as she was leaning over to inspect the contents of the bag.

"I thought..."

"Dinner is going to have to wait Haruno." He was already donning his jacket, he scooped hers off the back of her chair and tossed it at her.

"But..."

"We need to get moving. That skull's been defleshed, which means it might not have been in the water very long, which also means the trail is still hot. The more time that passes the less..."

"The less likely we are to catch the killer. I went to that class too." Sakura sighed and shrugged her jacket on just in time for Kakashi to throw the keys at her. "Where are we going this time?"

"Plant delivery." He smirked at her slack jaw, but a magician never reveals their tricks before the show. "Let's go."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three; Labs Have all the Solutions

This day had played out in such a way it could not have been anticipated or predicted in shape or form, by seer or psychic, let alone a rookie detective. And yet Sakura was a little disappointed that she hadn't been able to foresee where this day would take her. It was close to 9pm, they were heading full tilt on the highway in Kakashi's sorry excuse for a car, and she had no idea where they were going.

The Sakura of the past, the one that had worked to a hospital schedule with military precision, she would have been physically ill at the very idea of what was unfolding around her now, the chaos. But Detective Haruno? She was loving every second. She wasn't sure if that was to do with the seasoned veteran next to her and the calm, albeit strange, aura he seemed to exude.

_It was fun. _Unexpected, brilliant, nonsensical... fun. So much better than the sterile world she had escaped from.

"Next turn off. Exit 321."

She simply nodded and complied. The kind of barking order didn't even bother her at this point, she was just grateful to be there, and she _was _good at this. She would be great even with a little more time. _She would show them all._

The buildings in this part of the city were unfamiliar, an odd mixture of larger gated factories and well lit parking lots.

"Take the next right."

Part of her realized she should really ask where they were going, but something was also telling her that he wasn't going to just come out with that kind of information for nothing. It seemed to be how he operated. Sakura's stomach lurched, may she was only so compliant out of hunger.

"You want the entrance to Axiam Labs, 100 meters on the left. There's reserved precinct parking."

He sounded at least a little more interested in the case now, the realization about the skull lighting a fire in him obviously. Kakashi appeared to be sending some very fast messages, every so often he would grow frustrated at the screen and close it with a huff, only to open it seconds later. Sakura should have guessed they were heading to the lab, but what could they possibly discern without any of the forensic evidence with them? Surely it wouldn't have been collated and sent for testing so quickly...

"Lab, huh." She was not surprised that he offered no more information. She hadn't exactly asked a question to begin with. "I thought the precinct lab was on site now..."

"It is. This is just where our... special cases are outsourced to."

"Special cases?"

"Yes, I'm aware of what I said. Or are you just fond of repeating?"

Sakura rolled her eyes so hard she was sure he could hear it even though he was looking dramatically out the passenger side window into the darkness. The security guard seated in a booth by the gate nodded to Kakashi and raised the bar. It would be hard not to recognize that matte of silver hair.

As she pulled into the park and cut the ignition she waited for Kakashi to elaborate with patience. She may not know him completely or well enough yet, but she was vindicated when his whole body appeared to sigh and he begrudgingly continued.

"Sorry, yeah, this is the lab we use mostly for violent crimes. It's privately owned but the tech here is, well he's something else... You'll see."

Kakashi leant over to the back seat with a sigh, unbuckling the plant that had been an unwilling passenger for the whole day.

Sakura was too irked to make any kind of intelligible response, though she was also determined not to let Hatake's prickly exterior dampen her mood. It was a saddening fact that she was too used to the mood swings of men in the professional world. The medical world was just as cut throat as that of the detective.

_At least he apologized, sort of. _It was an attempt in the right direction, she nodded, acknowledge the good behaviour so that it may continue. She would train him yet.

The night air was cool as they headed toward the entrance, Sakura's eyes darting around quickly, taking in as much as she could in the darkness. It was a tidy but unremarkable laboratory. They knew Kakashi well enough not to even ask to see his badge, they weren't bothered by the potted plant, not one person batted an eye in her direction as far as she could tell. It wasn't until they rounded a corner that she spied anything that really grabbed her attention, and as they padded closer to it there was even more to take in.

Specifically it was what she could see through the doors to one lab in particular. In a sea of sterile white it stood out like a sore thumb, and a lush green thumb at that. Her eyes struggled to take in more detail when Kakashi fortuitously paused outside the double doors, pulling a key card from the inside of his jacket.

When those automated doors opened it was like walking from a laboratory and into a jungle. While there was equipment, tables and computers all brand new and in working order; it was above all that she could see the hundreds of potted plants carefully placed on shelves. Some were creeping vines with glossy leaves which were climbing over every available surface and up to the ceiling rafters.

There was a moment of wonder where Sakura was simply marveling at the strangeness around her, the male voices jarring her back to reality.

"I've already told you Mr. Hatake... I'm not helping you this time. I don't care what you've brought me or what excuse you've dreamed up..."

"Now now, Yamato. At least hear us out first."

"Us? What do you mean... oh..."

A man wheeled into view while still sitting in an office chair, a shaggy head of brown hair, wearing a white lab coat. It was his eyes that held her attention and she wasn't sure if he was deliberately that wide eyed or not.

"Well, well. This is an interesting development. Sorry for my rudeness, let me introduce myself. Name's Yamato, entomologist and plant enthusiast..." He scooted closer, still seated, and gasped loudly. "_Kakashi what beautiful creature have you destroyed this time?"_

For a moment she thought that he was speaking of herself, but his arms were already outstretched to the damned potted plant they had purchased earlier. Kakashi was holding it up like a hostage and the look on his face was pure pompous snob and she had to bite back the urge to roll her eyes. Yamato beat her to the punch by rolling his own eyes and folding his arms with a huff.

"Manners, Yamato. This is Detective Haruno."

"Detective…" Yamato repeated quietly.

She watched with curiosity as the entomologist's eyes quickly scanned between herself and Kakashi.

"Sakura, you can call me Sakura. Nice to meet you."

It was even more unsettling when Yamato's attention was focused directly on her. The man practically snatching her hand to shake it, pulling her a little closer to him.

"You're here of your own free will, right? Blink twice for help and I'll call the guards…"

"Yamato." Kakashi's no nonsense tone broke through and the warning broke any silliness in the man's features.

"Sorry about that." He scooted back and sheepishly ran a hand through his hair. "It's just very unusual to see Kakashi teamed up with anyone, let alone someone as pretty as…"

"Yamato!" Kakashi was now the one rolling his eyes. "Do you want the damned plant or not?"

The man sat back and turned his unimpressed attention back to Kakashi.

"Depends on what despicable favor you're going to ask me to do this time. I've told you before, I'm not a miracle worker, some of these things you just have to wait for. I haven't any details of the case you're working on…"

"You will soon. Here." Kakashi offered the plant, and as prickly as Yamato had been seconds ago, he took that vegetation like a child snatching back their favorite toy. "All I want you to do is take a look at some photos and confirm Detective Haruno's theory."

She noticed that suddenly the theory was hers alone. A tide of negative thoughts flooded her mind at that point, many a man had done this throughout her professional career, as a surgeon and as a budding detective. It had dogged her throughout school and university. And at this very moment she could see the seeds of doubt in her ability being planted in the minds of the men around her. She didn't really know Kakashi that well, with no idea as to why he had brought her here, heck she wasn't even sure now that he believed her theory about the skull. It seemed almost too wild to be the truth, but she would not have said it if she weren't absolutely certain, she would stand by her work. It was the only way to get men like this to listen, and it would be the only way to garner any kind of respect from them as colleagues.

"Is that what that onslaught of messages contained? You know I won't open anything you send me, especially at work, not after the last time you sent me that link to cock rings on ebay..."

"Ugh..." Kakashi made a throat clearing sound, he also tried to hide the creeping blush on his face but was too slow for Sakura's eye. "Bring them up on the Discord network then if you have to."

With a shrug and a push of his legs Yamato wheeled himself back to his desk. All the while hugging that plant closely to his chest. Sakura still couldn't quite shake the feeling that she was walking into a bullying session or something similar. For now she chose to give Kakashi the benefit of the doubt, surely he wouldn't put in so much effort, come all this way just to humiliate her...

"Well it must be important if you've brought an offering, guess I'll take a quick look. How big are we talking?"

"You'll see."

Yamato rolled his eyes while he tapped his login to the computer. Kakashi moved forward to stand beside him, Sakura took the opportunity to look more closely around the lab. It seemed that this Yamato was meticulous in his operations, with plants and equipment alike, it was fastidiously labelled and cleaned. While Sakura enjoyed the tidy and novel appearance of this lab it did not make her nostalgic to be back in that sort of world. She would take the rush of speeding to a crime scene in a beat up sedan any day.

"Case number MR13B... Wait, is this is skeletal remains that were fished out of the lake this afternoon?"

"Yeah that's the one."

"Kakashi what possible assistance could I provide at this early stage? There's nothing even here to show for it apart from a few photos, the forensic autopsy hasn't even been completed."

"Yamato, I just want you to take a quick look at the photos on file."

Sakura couldn't see the gentleman roll his eyes but she presumed that's what was happening, she knew his type.

"What exactly am I meant to be looking at?"

"Detective Haruno..." Kakashi chimed.

_Ah, here it comes. _The inevitable act of humiliation, she couldn't help the thought that entered her mind, she had been down this road so many times before. He would ask her to explain her theory and then they would all have a big laugh at her expense.

"Yes?"

"Can you enlarge this image like you did the one back at the precinct?"

"Oh, yeah, as long as the computer still has the factory features. I had to use a separate program to really zoom in on the area..." Sakura stepped forward, taking hold of the mouse and making a few quick clicks. When she stepped back she pretended to be disinterested in the whole thing. Guarding her fragile self for the incoming barrage of teasing that was surely to come. They weren't saying anything yet but it wouldn't be far away.

"Do you see it?" Kakashi asked, and for a moment she thought he was speaking to her, but Yamato was staring at the screen transfixed and nodding.

"I think so, wow, you spotted this Sakura? That's amazing."

"Uh, yeah, thanks." She was at a loss for what else she should say, she'd never had a theory so readily accepted in her entire adult life, let alone something as incriminating as this.

"She did, our little newbie is a doctor."

"_Was _a doctor." She corrected instantly, not missing the way Kakashi looked back to her with a raised brow, it might've been attractive if it weren't so damned irritating.

"That's tool marks alright." Yamato was still peering at the picture but sounded certain.

"Two separate tools if you look at the striations on the parietal bone compared to the mandible and temporal bones." She corrected again with more confidence than before, unless this was just an elaborate scheme to build her up before they tore her down, and it wouldn't be the first time. She liked to think that Kakashi was far too lazy for such a thing.

"You think it's one of his?" Yamato directed his attention to Kakashi.

"Unclear at this stage, his victims are all accounted for, so this would be a surprising addition. It does however rule out any kind of accidental death or grave desecration. Something violent happened here."

"That's for damned sure."

"Whose victims?" Sakura asked so suddenly she surprised herself, usually she wasn't one to interrupt conversation but she had so many questions and wanted to be in on the loop. Yamato turned to look at her before answering.

"The Knife-man of Konoha."

"Oh, I remember that case from the academy, wasn't the perp finally caught on a traffic violation?"

"The very same. That case took the better part of a year for Kakashi and I just to make sense of the evidence alone. There was so much of it. Good times, right Kakashi?"

"Speak for yourself." Kakashi hadn't taken his eyes off the screen and his tone was one not to be trifled with. "Skull was fished out of the water, but it may not have been there for very long. What do you think? Worth fast tracking?"

"Well, since you've brought an offering, and such an interesting case to boot... Fine. Put the transfer into Axiom and I'll take care of it."

Kakashi seemed to be bolstered as he straightened and reached for his phone.

"Brilliant, I'll phone it through to Tsunade." He murmured as he walked toward the door already dialing. "Be right back."

This left Sakura alone in the lab with Yamato, feeling a little vindicated that her integrity hadn't been torn to shreds about her theory. Maybe she had misjudged Kakashi's character entirely.

"Kakashi said you were unusually beautiful but I wasn't expecting such a gorgeous blossom."

Or maybe she had been right on the money, she narrowed her eyes.

"Ugh, I didn't realize you two had spoken about me..."

"Hmm? Oh no, I was talking to the plant, he didn't mention you. Not surprising though..."

Sakura could feel her temperature rising with her sudden anger.

"Why exactly is that surprising? Because I'm a woman? Or because I'm new blood, hmm?"

"Oh no, please forgive me. I only meant that Kakashi, well, he doesn't keep partners for more than a day. Not since, y'know."

Yamato's gesture and head tilt did little to shed any light on the matter. Sakura cocked her hip and raised a brow at the peculiar man.

"No I don't know, care to enlighten me?"

"Wait...:" Yamato now turned to look at her with undivided attention, "was Kakashi assigned to assist you on this case?"

"No we've been working it together since this morning. And you still haven't explained to me..."

"Since this morning? Wow, you've beaten the record already. Kakashi hasn't worked with a partner for more than an interrogation since... well, since Obito."

"Obito? Who's that?"

"Well he was Kakashi's best friend and partner until a year ago."

"What happened?"

Yamato indicated for her to lean closer, that this was private information that needed to be kept as quiet as possible.

"Obito was killed in the line of duty. Investigating... well something that's better left unsaid. It was violent. Kakashi was the one who found him and he hasn't found anyone he can work with since."

Sakura's brow furrowed as she took in all the information she could. She was also hyper aware that the man in question could come back at any second.

"Did they get the guy who did it?"

"Not yet. It's a shame, Kakashi hasn't been the same since, used to be ever the consummate Detective, thorough, caring, dedicated. But now... well, you've seen him."

She had trained her expression to one of indifference despite the shock she felt. It didn't feel right to be privy to such a thing without Kakashi's permission. That was how it should be between partners she guessed. She had tried to forget the commotion that Kakashi himself had caused on her arrival to the precinct, she'd had no idea that such a tragedy had befallen her predecessor. It explained part of Kakashi's behavior while also opening up a whole new realm of mystery about the man.

It was just lucky that she enjoyed puzzles so much.

"I don't know about that, he seems dedicated to me. We agreed to work this 50/50 and he's kept his word."

"Don't get me wrong, he's a great guy, and a brilliant detective and it's been hard watching him struggle for so long. You seem like a nice person, just don't go getting your hopes up."

Sakura tried to swallow her anger.

"Thanks for your concern, I assure you I'll be just fine."

Perhaps there was a little mirth to her tone still, a combination of being simultaneously fed up at the situation and not caring either way what this man thought of her.

"I gotta ask, what made you switch from medicine to detective work?"

Sakura considered her answer and she considered the ramifications of biting back with malice. It probably wouldn't do well to antagonize someone they had come to ask a favor of.

"It's a long story, let's just say I wanted to make a difference somehow."

Her answer was just the right amount of vague detail to settle the matter for the time being. Kakashi appearing behind her just as the last words drifted from her mouth. Their eyes met with a curt nod.

"All sorted?"

"Tsunade is on board, she at least agreed that we were dealing with something too violent not to pull out all the stops for. You can expect all the particulars to be forwarded to you as soon as they're ready, Tenzo- I mean, Yamato." Kakashi cleared his throat, Sakura watched as the entomologists face turned beet red. "Ready to go, Sakura?"

Without any chance for a reply, Kakashi was already turned and heading toward the door, Sakura barely had time to wave awkwardly to Yamato before catching up with Hatake.

The silence hanging in the air seemed heavier to Sakura even as they walked quickly back towards the entrance of the lab. The questions were forming in her mind and sorting themselves into an acceptable order. She would need to be careful about how she asked them as well, to get the most information out of Kakashi as possible without him realizing.

By the time they reached the sedan her mind was a tumultuous storm of emotions, questions and thoughts. She had been so certain that Kakashi was about to throw her under the bus, embarrass her in some way about her skull theory, yet he hadn't. Apart from the plant oddity he had been a professional through and through. Yamato had even seemed nice for the most part... probing questions aside.

"Bet you're wondering... about that..." Kakashi asked as extended his hand, they were paused outside the vehicle, it took a moment for her to register that he was asking for the keys.

"About what?" She coyly raised a brow feigning innocence. "The plants, the lab or the weirdo who brought me here?:

She dropped the keys into his palm, his eyes were on hers but they weren't holding her attention any longer. He was smiling, genuinely smiling, and she could tell because it was the first time he'd made such an expression in her company. It was beguiling and completely changed the look of his entire face.

"Get in, I'll give you the abridged version."

Sakura ignored her rumbling stomach again as she sat in the passengers side, her nerves quelled for the meantime, it had reawakened that hunger from before. She was also hungry for answers, in any way, shape or form. About the case of about the weirdness she had just witnessed.

"What did you think of Yamato?" Kakashi asked when they reached the highway.

"He's... nice, I guess. An oddity but that seems to be the trend with everyone in this profession." She may have sounded slightly bitter but she didn't want to be answering questions, she wanted the puzzle pieces to fit together neatly.

She also wanted her dinner.

"Nice, yeah that's about it. You wouldn't know it from looking at him, but he was once an up and coming Detective of such a caliber he was on the docket for Captain."

"Really? I've never heard of him."

"Would surprise me greatly if you had. Met him some ten years back, but his talents were wasted on the force. Man could pick up a blade of grass and tell you where it had been growing and for how long." Kakashi sighed and she had to wonder what parts of the story he was strategically omitting. "When his talents were finally recognized he was transferred. It was a fight getting a cop to be deemed worthy in the forensic side in any case. You won't find a harder worker, or a more talented scientist anywhere in the city. His time is so valuable now it takes some gentle coercion to get his attention."

"Ah, I see. So he won't do you any favors unless you bring him the plants? That it?"

"Yes ma'am."

"His lab is filled with them, you must have asked a lot of favors..."

"Some of them are by way of apology also, it is my fault he got transferred from the force to begin with, my fault he's had to work so hard. But that's a story for another time. Anyway, I knew from experience that your theory about the skull being defleshed held value, but to get Tsunade on our side quicker..."

"You wanted Yamato to back it up."

"Exactly. You catch on quick Haruno."

"Would have been easier if you'd just told me, why you men feel the need to keep everything covert from women I'll never understand... But I can also see why you did it. You wanted me to get defensive on the theory..."

Sakura gave him a side glance with her eyes narrowed.

"Well, maybe defensive isn't the right word, passionate is more appropriate."

"Uh huh. You men, why you don't just come out with..."

"Sakura, I meant it when I said nice work. Trust your instincts, trust your..." He paused and swallowed thickly, pretending to concentrate on the road though it was the words he was having trouble with. "Trust your partner. You've proven yourself to be an extremely capable detective and only on your first day."

There was silence between them. Sakura had never been good at accepting complements, let alone ones that came directly from a superior. They tended to lead to sexual harassment in her experience. But this seemed genuine, and it held even more stock because of what Yamato had said to her that evening.

"You're pretty capable yourself, Hatake."

"Well, I do try occasionally, and this is meant to be 50/50 right?"

She huffed instead of articulating an answer. While there were still so many questions surrounding this man, her partner, for the moment she was content to trust him just a little bit.

"You have any more questions?" He asked with a tone that was almost too nice to be recognized as Kakashi.

"Yeah, what did you get me for dinner?"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Don't Kale My Vibe

As he cut the ignition Kakashi was certain of one thing; Sakura had the potential to be a force to be reckoned with, even more so than Tsunade. Which lead him to one obvious and terrible conclusion.

_You need to guide this one closely, Kakashi. _

Obito, as usual, sensed the apprehensive feelings before Kakashi had been able to figure them out for himself. Unfortunately this time he wasn't so sure he would be able to convince her that her smarts were better suited for a lab, where it was infinitely safer. It had worked on Yamato once long ago but Sakura was a different breed. She was a born detective. Just like Obito had been.

He wasn't going to let another tragedy like that happen again. He needed to be better. Needed to keep her safe at all costs.

The details she had picked up from just from photographs alone, on her first day and with no input from anyone else… Well it was almost like having Obito here with him in the flesh, just with added sass, and that flesh was indeed much easier on the eyes.

_Bakashi, don't be disgusting, that's your partner. Pervert._

He felt the sigh escape him as he fought the urge to say the words out loud, 'no harm in looking'. Seeing as he was now alone with Sakura in the elevator it would most definitely not end well if he started blurting out his thoughts and conversations with a fictional Obito.

_Fictional? Gee, thanks pal._

"Why won't you just shu…"

"Hm? Did you say something?"

"Oh, no. Not really, I was just wondering why it was taking so long for that door to shut."

_Nice save, idiot._

Arguments with his deceased partner could wait until he was within the sanctuary of his own apartment. Usually his self appointed conscience kept quiet around others, although it could be said that there weren't usually a lot of people to speak of around Kakashi in any case. Today might be the longest amount of time he'd spent with any human being in an entire year, precinct mandatory psychiatrists aside.

The doors opened to a full view of the night staff with some of the regular faces thrown in. Tsunade herself waiting ominously by his desk as if she had anticipated their exact time of arrival.

"Captain." Kakashi greeted curtly, her aura was not so murderous this evening though it was still prickly. This wasn't his first rodeo on thin ice however.

"Hatake. Ah, Haruno, there you are. Excellent preliminary work on the skull. Your references were not exaggerating your skills with forensics."

"Thank you, Captain."

Kakashi was already at his desk and pulling out the various containers of Chinese food, he paused to put a hand to his chest in mock hurt.

"Y'know it hurts that you would just _assume _that it was Sakura who made the discovery and not the seasoned veteran..."

"Uh huh, over seasoned if you ask me. Which is exactly how I knew that it was Sakura who worked this out so quickly without going to 5 different experts first. I know you, Hatake."

Kakashi offered his best smirk as he extended a container to his partner to take, though it was now cool. There was a shadow of something over Sakura's face, displeasure or disdain, at him or the food... he couldn't be sure. She took it cautiously with a raised brow.

"Is it him?" Tsunade now turned serious.

"Too soon to tell." Kakashi was already opening various boxes of food and skimming quick bites.

"His victims were all accounted for prior to his execution but it wouldn't surprise me if that psycho had one more up his sleeve. What are your thoughts Detective Haruno?"

Sakura seemed ever so slightly startled, wiping the scowl off her face and pausing her cautious removal of the container lid. She was treating it like a bomb that was to explode in her face and this was bemusing to Kakashi.

"Well, my psych teachings were extensive, but even I can't imagine the kind of person who would sit with a skull in hand and remove... everything. The hate they must have felt for the victim."

"There's no chance of this being a corpse removed from its grave by animals?"

"Wishful thinking, Tsunade." Kakashi chimed in with a mouth full.

It was like watching a switch being flipped with Sakura, she would be all innocence and unassuming until she had something to prove. The second she sat the food down on her desk and brought up the images with a few quick taps of the keyboard.

"Impossible. You can see the marks on the jaw bone here, and here. This _person_ used needle nose pliers to pull each tooth to prevent identification. The ridges align perfectly from the photos alone, we can probably get impressions from the skull itself and narrow down what was used exactly."

A snide smile crept onto Kakashi's lips. He would not underestimate this woman and he would do well to remember that at a later date. For now he was content in seeing her teach the Captain a thing or two with no idea of the wrath that could fall upon her head. It was nice not to be the one in imminent danger for a change.

The Captain's phone rang just as she leaned in for a closer look. Saved by the bell.

_Usually that's my line for you, Bakashi._

"Excellent, excellent work Sakura." She took her phone out checking the screen. Kakashi stared on, perplexed, while Sakura looked like the cat who got the cream. "Shizune. Tsunade here."

The Captain didn't even bother to move as she took the call standing in front of them. Shaking his head a little to snap himself out of it, Kakashi offered Sakura another of the containers and she shook her own head violently. Now it was his turn to raise a brow.

"Brilliant work, Shizune."

As soon as he overheard the words Kakashi almost felt his jaw drop to the floor. What the hell was going on here today? It was odd to hear Tsunade sound anything other than irritated, perhaps he was just too used to that timbre. But now she had complimented two people right here in front of him. It was insanity.

"I have them here, I'll inform them. Keep us posted on the results."

"Good news?" Kakashi asked cautiously just to be sure.

"As good as it could get in a homicide investigation. Though we only have proof of dismemberment yet. Sakura, can you bring up that image of the jaw bone again?"

Feeling decidedly left out as the women surrounded the computer Kakashi made the unconventional (for him) decision to join in.

"The mandible wasn't recovered in the lake?" Sakura asked Tsunade without even sparing Kakashi a side glance.

"Not yet, they scoured it pretty heavily but there wasn't enough light to finish the job. We may get lucky tomorrow but don't hold your breath."

Kakashi's first instinct was a sudden and uncontrollable urge to make a play on words, Tsunade had set it up perfectly and he liked to think that it was on purpose. Just like it was probably purposeful that she give no pause for him to retort with any satisfaction.

"Here it is, Captain."

"Alright, now zoom in if you can on the upper left, third molar."

Kakashi raised a brow as he tried to get a look at what they were seeing. As in, he could see it, but he was exactly sure what _it _was.

"Brilliant." Sakura said under her breath.

"Brilliant, how?"

"The wisdom tooth was embedded in the maxillary. Whoever removed the teeth from the skull wasn't able to see this one under the flesh."

"That's exactly right, Sakura. And Shizune has been able to extract it in perfect condition. Which means we may get enough undamaged tooth pulp for DNA analysis."

"That is good news."

Haruno finally glanced back to Kakashi and he could see it in her eyes, see the hope at this new lead. It was a look that he was all too familiar with, one that almost pained him to be reacquainted with, it was so very Obito like.

"It's not good news unless we find something to compare it to." He hadn't meant it to come off so somber, but this was a murder investigation, there was no such thing as good news when it came to homicide.

"Our perp has made a mistake and we need to take advantage of this while we can. If he's made one, he'll make another."

"Yes Ma'am."

Both detectives chorused in reply to Tsunade. Without another word the captain nodded and stormed back to her office. Through body language alone Kakashi was able to discern that she still wasn't thoroughly pleased about this case... or him for that matter. But at least they had something to work with.

In a blink Sakura was back at it, huddled around some files with the computer screen open to the ME's pictures of the skull. Kakashi took the opportunity to sit back in his chair and dive into a container of fried rice. It was tepid at best after being left for so long but the hunger was at a stage where that detail no longer mattered. He only found it slightly odd that Sakura was now not interested in food though she'd grumbled about it before leaving to the lab.

"You should eat something, Sakura."

"Have you got anything remotely healthy or nutritional in any of those containers Hatake? Salad maybe?"

"This one has cabbage in it... I think... At least it used to be cabbage in a past life."

"That's disgusting." She let out a sigh of defeat, wheeling her chair around and grabbing the wonton soup.

"You're welcome by the way."

"I'll be sure to thank you properly when I have a massive coronary episode. Though I'm certain you'll beat me to it at this rate."

They ate in silence for a while and it was pleasant enough. Kakashi's mind began to list the information that he could be certain of at this point, about the case and about this new would go places fast if she lived long enough, she had certainly proved her potential on her first day. The detective portion of his brain that took over more often than not was actively resisting the urge to do some digging on her. He might've if it weren't for the case at hand.

"So, what's next?" She asked matter-of-factly, leaning back and downing some soup, despite her earlier protest she appeared to be enjoying it.

"Well, we have two options. First being, we eat, we go home and rest for the night. Wait for the DNA results or potential cause of death to be discovered by forensics."

"And the second?"

"The method that I usually take for these kinds of cases. We fast track it. We narrow down all the missing persons reports that fit the age and description that can also provide DNA for matching. Means we have something to run as soon as the skull results are in. The precinct field office can be notified to run it as soon as it's ready. We may be here for another couple of hours but we also may have the identity of our vic by the morning."

Kakashi expected Detective Haruno to be like every other detective he'd had the displeasure to work with in the past year. He expected her to pack up and go home at the first chance of rest, and her shift was technically over, so she had every right to. Not everyone had the obsessive need to work until all possible leads were exhausted, Obito being the only exception.

He did not expect for her to down the soup so rapidly. He did not expect her to turn back to her desk and pull out more reports without so much as a word.

Kakashi maybe smiled just a fraction.

_She certainly exceeds all expectations._

They had designated piles for each case. One for where the age and description matched but there was no DNA available for comparison. This pile would need to be followed up with should they not find a match later. One pile for cases that did not match the age or had dental records with the upper wisdom teeth already removed. And one for potential leads.

As the night went on two of the stacks continued to grow at a depressing rate. Sakura was the first to find a missing person within the age range and with DNA on record.

"Raiza Gabriel, aged 24, arrested two years ago for public indecency in a church confessional." Sakura slapped the file down onto the empty spot with a grin. "Looks like I'm in the lead."

"I didn't realize we were racing, Haruno."

"What can I say, I enjoy competition. Especially when I'm given the chance to show up a seasoned veteran such as yourself."

_Those are fighting words Bakashi. Let's show her how it's done._

"Listen, detective work isn't a competition or game. There are lives at stake. Work that needs to be done for the good of the city." He tried to maintain a monotone throughout the spiel. "That being said now that I know we _are _racing prepare to have your ass kicked, Detective."

"Pfft, yeah sure, that'll be the day."

"Your sarcasm is duly noted and will be used against you in the event of your inevitable defeat."

Kakashi couldn't pinpoint exactly the name of the feeling that was roused within him as they locked eyes for a second. It wasn't familiar enough to name with any certainty, some long forgotten mix of excitement, camaraderie and fun that he didn't think himself capable of feeling any more. Obito would have approved.

It became a blur of files after that, searches, paper. Kakashi had barely registered when the night crew shift had come in to the precinct, he only noticed when he looked up to place his first potential vic on top of Sakura's lonely file.

"Avalon Jones, 25, missing four weeks. DNA on record for felony charges. Inciting a riot and breaking parole, ties to black market pornography. Dental records attached. One all, Haruno."

He didn't miss the veritable death glare that was shot his way from over her shoulder. It probably pleased him more than it should. Sakura was taking this little bet a lot more seriously than he anticipated but it was a credit to her character.

Kakashi maintained his cool and calm demeanor even after he was jolted from his work by Sakura slamming another file onto his one glorious find.

"Jessie Davidson, 22, missing for two weeks. Madam of a known prostitution ring running on the lower east side of Konoha. Went underground once she was let out on bail. One of her 'sister wives' reported her as missing a while after that. 2-1, Hatake and we're almost out of files. Did you want to call it a day now, old man?"

_Old man... Kakashi, I like her and all, and she's a good detective... But you're younger than me so you definitely need to kick her ass right about now._

"You forgot wise, handsome, superior..."

"Funny, I'll add delusional to that list then."

Kakashi usually hated small talk, hated everything that came with it, and on this day in particular there was a lot that he didn't want to remember. But when he looked up at the clock and saw that it had passed midnight, passed the anniversary of that terrible day, it came as more of a relief. The hours had passed quickly with banter and investigation tonight and honestly he couldn't think of a better way to honor the memory of Obito.

A question surfaced in his mind, why had he been in such a hurry that morning? A hurry to dismiss this case, dismiss Sakura Haruno as a good detective or viable partner.

It was fortuitous that Kakashi and Sakura both reached the final missing persons reports on their stacks at the same time. He forced back a chuckle when he saw Sakura pouting like a small child as she threw the file into the middle pile.

As he glanced down there was something about the name on this particular missing person report that struck a strange chord with Kakashi. It was that same feeling he'd had as Sakura had found their first lead, that same prickling on the back of his neck, a foreboding kind of intuition.

_Samantha Winters._

For some reason this name was calling to him. Brow furrowed he perused the file but there was no clear reason for it to be standing out so much to him. Even Sakura noticed the way he slowly went through each page as if his life depended on it. But still there was no inkling for Kakashi.

"Are you trying to drag this out Hatake so you won't have to admit defeat? How sad."

"Not quite." At his lack of a witty retort to the insult she wheeled herself closer.

"You got something?"

"I'm not sure yet. Just a feeling. Here."

Kakashi handed the file to her.

"Samantha Winters, 26. No priors or arrests. Mother reported her missing two weeks ago when she failed to pick up her son."

"Okay, but there's no DNA, why this one Hatake? It's not just for the bet, right?"

"What bet? No, no... Look at where her apartment is." He pointed to the address. "That is across the road from the lake we found the skull in. Don't know why but I have a hunch... sorry I can't explain it further."

He really was sorry that he couldn't explain it with any brevity. It sounded stupid to himself as he said it out loud. What shocked him out of his stupor was when Sakura threw the file onto the smaller stack of leads. He looked at her with his brow raised.

"We will be able to get mitochondrial DNA from the son to compare. With her last known sighting so close to the lake we need to consider this one seriously. Nice find, Kakashi."

"I'm not sure if I should thank you for the compliment, I'm expecting an immediate insult to follow if I'm honest."

"No, I mean it. Not sure I'd have taken a second look at that one. You're pretty clever for an old... _seasoned _detective."

"And there it is..."

A moment of terse silence and then they both started laughing.

"I really should be thanking you though. As far as first days go, plant shopping aside, it was better than average." She was already standing and donning her coat. "See you in... 7 hours, Jesus Christ I didn't notice the time."

"That happens with murder investigations." Kakashi stood and stretched his cramped muscles. "Just be thankful there's no drugs involved with this one. The paperwork for that would put you off the job completely."

"Noted. Call this one a tie?"

With a nod he leaned over to retrieve his own coat before picking up the 4 missing persons files that were their leads.

"I'll run these over to the precinct field office on my way out, get that DNA ready to roll by the morning. Except... this one." He held up the last file on the stack. "I'll contact the mother in the morning and see if we can get a willing sample."

"Good plan."

Sakura was stifling a yawn as they both made their way to the elevator, back in the same place he'd seen her for the first time the morning previous. Her face was still impassive, just a hint of a smile on her lips, hair still outrageously pink. She hit the button for the ground floor.

"I meant to ask about the hair."

"What about it?"

"How is it so... pink? Is that on purpose or were your born in a bubble gum factory?"

The doors opened, Sakura turned to look at him with a deadly expression. One that Tsunade would probably have been proud of.

"If you behave yourself I might just tell you the story, Hatake, and it is _quite _the story..." She winked and began to walk towards the doors before calling back. "Night, partner."

Kakashi smirked and shook his head.

"Night...partner."

In a blink she was gone, while the words still hung in his mouth, the aftertaste not at all as unpleasant as he thought they would be. It had been a simple reaction to Sakura's own words and almost entirely out of his control.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad, working with another detective again, and this time he would do it right. Make sure that tragedy never befalls anyone else, Sakura included. Kakashi fell into autopilot as he left instructions with the field office, his mind a jumbled mess of excitement and trepidation.

There was just one thing that bothered him all the way to his car, and for the whole journey to his apartment. Perhaps it was because of the file placed on his passengers seat, the one whose relatives needed to be contacted, but it felt as if he was forgetting something. Like he had left something behind at the precinct or lab. It dogged him continuously even as he walked up the three flights of stairs to his place. He'd have asked that voice of Obito that usually never left him alone but now he was conspicuously silent. It added to the feeling and Kakashi didn't like it one bit.

When something bothered Kakashi Hatake he usually made sure that it stopped. He had enough cumbersome worries as a detective without this unnamed feeling thrown into the mix.

Pakkun barely looked up from the couch as he came in, locking the door behind him. The pug would only move at the sound of his biscuit bowl being filled. Kakashi's next steps were into the kitchen, throwing on the light, illuminating the distant madness that was his living room. True to fashion the pug only appeared once the first biscuit had hit the ceramic. At least some things never changed.

For the second or third time that evening Kakashi felt that prickling sensation on the back of his neck. Felt the rush of cool excitement out of nowhere. And it happened as soon as he turned on the light to the living room, as soon as he could see the walls plastered with pictures, notes, evidence, leads...

Anything he'd been able to find out about Obito's murder in the last year had ended up on these walls. So much of it was scribbled, frantic notes from the man himself, with Kakashi's added underneath. Even the windows were covered now.

Kakashi didn't care. This was his work, his method, and he would find a way. He would find the psycho who had murdered his best friend.

The vengeful feelings were not able to overcome him in this moment because he was still in the throws of that unnamed feeling. The calling he felt. With the file still in his hand Kakashi shot a glance down to it...

Samantha Winters...

He would never be able to explain it to a sane person, and he attributed it to the late hour and stressful day... but he swore he could hear a key being turned in a lock. Except it was in his mind, and it hit him at the very instance he spied what had been calling him to the walls, what had been calling him since he had read that name back at the precinct.

Because it wasn't the first time he had read it.

The closer he stepped to it the clearer he could see. There, on the receipt they had found in Obito's pocket at the time of his death, the name of the cashier printed in bold.

**Samantha Winters.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five: Chopping Spree

The second day on the job started eerily like the first, same walk to the precinct, same kerfuffle with security at the door. Even down to the same rising excitement in her chest. It was a feeling she had tried to quell as she entered the elevator, such a thing was not to be indulged during a homicide investigation.

The origin of this feeling was simple and it had started the moment she had entered the building the day before as well. It was steeped in hope that today they would be one step closer to apprehending a suspect to this foul deed. That she, and her partner, would be working side by side to bring a killer to justice. The excitement was also born in the knowledge that today was a whole new day on the job, and like yesterday she could not predict where it would take her.

As the doors were closing she half expected to see Kakashi racing toward them again, hopeful that if he wasn't there already that he soon would be so they could get back to work. When the doors shut firmly with no nimble hand sliding in to stop them, Sakura felt a sigh escape her. It came out so suddenly that it was surprising.

_What was that about... Are you that disappointed he's not here at the same time?_

She shook her head, even the very notion was too humiliating to admit even if it was only to herself. Sakura had once liked to have everything the same, to know what would happen at each minute of the day, there had been comfort in knowing and planning. It was easy to fall back into that pattern because it had been the only way to get through her days for so long.

_Break the cycle now, no more of that._

The habit was a hard one to sever, she had to remind herself a few times a week that there was a very good reason for it to be broken. And it needed to stay broken.

_Deep breaths, let's go catch a murderer._

The bull pen was less bedlam and chaos than yesterday, Tsunade would be happy about that much at least. As Sakura spied the empty chair that belonged to Detective Hatake she guessed there would probably be another ten minutes before the Captain's wrath would be unleashed on the precinct in all its glory.

The server containing all the case information took a minute to load. The antiquated system was in desperate need of a makeover. It was just one of the things on the list for Sakura to implement during her time here. If she made sergeant within the next two years, then lieutenant after that, she might make Captain by the time she hit 40. That was just a rough plan anyway. She would also be happy to stay a detective.

_Anything to finally make a difference._

The first thing she noticed waiting for her was the email from Shizune, they had expedited the sample, DNA of the vic would be available for possible matches by the end of the day. Someone had warned her that detective work was a lot of sitting around waiting for forensics and call backs. But with all the report writing and paperwork it really didn't feel much like waiting around doing nothing. Yesterday had blurred so quickly it was only the pangs of indigestion and oily after taste of Chinese food that had made it real for her later. It all felt like a fever dream, a lucid one that she was loving every minute of.

"Haruno, my office, now."

Tsunade's booming voice called from across the bull pen.

"Yes Captain."

It was a pity Hatake wasn't here yet, Sakura felt the sudden urge to gloat at her prediction being right on the money, down to the minute.

"You wanted to see me, m'lady?"

Tsunade nodded before indicating to the chair across from her desk. She seemed to be preoccupied with something on her computer screen but as soon as Sakura sat down her attention shifted.

"DNA extraction was a success on your vic I see."

"Yes, Ma'am. We've managed to discern four possible missing persons that fall within the age and sex of the skull."

"I saw the requisition report for three DNA samples from the field office. I'm not sure what's more impressive, Hatake actually putting effort into his paperwork for a change, or your ability to narrow it down together so quickly." There was a pause in which Sakura fought the urge to grin at the complement. "I just hope that work ethic isn't a temporary transfer to Hatake, I'd hoped to talk to the both of you this morning. No matter."

Tsunade sighed and Sakura couldn't help but look back over her shoulder and through the door window. The view of Kakashi's desk with no sign of the man behind it was enough to make her both frustrated and fractionally concerned. Though it was overtaken by the need to move on to the next piece of the puzzle.

"Take it you haven't seen him this morning, Ma'am."

"Not a peep, that shitty sedan is parked out front though so he can't be far away. That's not why I called you here though. You said you narrowed it down to four potentials, why only three DNA samples?"

_Here we go. The questions, the doubt, he's left you defending the case alone._

With a forcible shake of her head to rid herself of the thought Sakura tried to ground herself. She wasn't going to indulge in those pessimistic thoughts right now.

"The fourth has no sample on record, but the person who reported her missing was the mother, so there's potential to request mitochondrial DNA."

"Good call, certainly helps us rule it out as a possibility if nothing else."

"I can't take credit, Ma'am. Detective Hatake was the one who noted the next of kin on the file."

"Contact the mother as soon as you can, Haruno. I want this one put to bed quickly, we're getting a lot of heat from the Commissioner, the press are having a field day that we've got a Knife man copycat and it doesn't bode well for us."

"Yes Ma'am."

"Dismissed."

As she stood to leave, Sakura was stopped from turning away by Tsunade beckoning her with a finger to move closer to the desk. She then whispered in a hushed tone.

"Does he suspect anything?"

A sly smile was mirrored between the two of them.

"Oh most definitely, but he's got no idea, I'm sure."

"Good, let's keep it that way. It'll become handy leverage over the bastard one day I'm sure."

"You always were a crafty bitch, Aunty Tsu..."

"Shhhhh, don't make me sound like an old maid! Now get the hell back to work."

Tsunade betrayed the tone of her voice with a wink, Sakura considered herself 'off the hook' for the moment anyway. Grinning to herself she made her way back to her own desk. Still no sign of Kakashi, but she didn't need him present to contact the next of kin.

Within a few minutes she had successfully brought the case up onto her screen through the precinct system. Suddenly Sakura was able to see _exactly _why the Captain had been praising Kakashi's paperwork this time around. Samantha Winter's case was largely not entered into the system, which meant that all the details were in the physical file.

A flash of yesterday, she could see Kakashi holding that file so clearly in her mind, he had taken it with him... wherever he was. A quick look at the mess beside his computer told her that the file wasn't there. Nothing of any substantial value was there at all, at least work wise, though there were containers and coffee cups aplenty.

That was when his phone rang the first time. She tried not to jump in surprise, but also didn't feel quite right in being the one to answer his work line, so she sat down at her own desk and tried to ignore it.

It might have been ten minutes or an hour but eventually it rang again. Sakura continued to busy herself with the necessary reporting and ignored it still. And then it rang again, and again. So much so, that it was nearing a constant sound that was drowning out her inner voice and reason.

She'd lost count of how many times the call had gone to voicemail only for the incessant asshole on the other end to call back within a minute. Slamming her hand down on Hatake's disgusting excuse for a desk she picked up the receiver and resisted the urge to scream obscenities.

"Detective Hatake's line..."

"Finally, for fucks sake Kakashi, where the hell have you been all morning? Let me guess, you got lost saving a stray kitten from being eaten by a ferocious bear and just had to find a home for the poor thing and now you're stuck with the bear..."

"Excuse me, this is Hatake's line, but the detective's not here."

_What the fuck do you want... _She bit her tongue to stop herself from saying it out loud.

"Oh... Apologies. Wait, is that you, Detective Haruno? It's Yamato the entomologist from yesterday."

_That doesn't excuse you for swearing at me, jackass._

"Hi, you got some news about the case?"

"Well, not particularly. I've put it a transfer request for the skull to be sent from the medical examiners office to the lab. Since she's put a rush on it, it's possible I may have it by the end of the day. Whether I'll be able to get any particle evidence from it is another story..."

"So, uh, why are you calling?"

There was a huff down the end of the line that sounded like a heavy sigh, and Sakura's annoyance at the man was suddenly quelled.

"I thought the shit would be in by now, he ugh... well he left me a message late last night and it didn't make much sense. Gotta say, I'm a little worried."

"Worried?"

"Well yeah, first that he would message me at all outside of work...And second, considering what he wanted to talk about... Have you seen him at all this morning?"

Her eyes darted around the bull pen, to the elevator and the break room. There was no sight of the man and his shock of white hair.

"No, not yet, and he's got the file we need to proceed with the case." She thought a moment, a partner was meant to be trusted implicitly, and Kakashi had given her no reason not to trust him. The opposite really, he had trusted her theory even though this was her first case as detective. "Any idea where he could be?"

Yamato was unable to provide an acceptable idea of where the Detective could be. By the time she'd hung up the phone Sakura had worked out a plan, what kind of detective would she be if she couldn't find her own partner? At the risk of looking stupid in front of her colleagues, Sakura decided against asking the other detectives if they'd seen Kakashi, she didn't want to be the pestering newbie, She also didn't want to bother Tsunade, that temper of hers was at least sated for the minute, it didn't need to be stoked any further.

Tsunade had said that his shitty sedan was parked out front, so he really wouldn't be far away. Maybe she'd be able to see the file in the car. It wouldn't be so difficult to break into from the passengers side...

_Your second day on the job and you're gonna break into a detective's car? Smooth._

It wasn't a brilliant plan but it was infinitely better than sitting around and doing nothing. Quickly grabbing her keys and coat, Sakura tried to think of where else Hatake could be with what little information she knew about him. He was unpredictable to say the least so there wasn't much she could rule out. He could literally be anywhere within a five block radius.

A glance at her watch revealed it had just past 10am. What the hell was he doing? _He _was the one who'd said they needed to move fast while the leads were still hot.

_Maybe he's gone to another plant store?_

No, he'd have told Yamato if that were the case. Besides, if there had been a plant seller close to the precinct he wouldn't have gone so far out of his way yesterday. Sakura's mind pieced together images of what she knew of the man in the last 24 hours, and there was one thing that jumped to mind whenever she saw him at his desk.

Food.

It wasn't the strongest of leads but it still had potential. It was morning so that meant breakfast foods... maybe she would have some luck at the closest coffee vendors. With that in mind she left the precinct while still inwardly cursing that she had to bother finding him in the first place. There was still a case that needed solving.

True to Tsunade's word the sedan was parked dubiously outside. It looked more like a criminals vehicle than an officer's, there wasn't much to be seen inside of it either.

It took 40 minutes to scope out and question the cafe's closest to the precinct. None of them were overly pleased about having to answer questions when she wasn't buying anything. By the third shop she'd figured out that it only took a flash of the badge and a smile to get what she wanted.

Unfortunately none of them had seen Kakashi that morning though they remembered him. It was hard not to recall a messy silver haired detective with a scar over his left eye. Defeated and frustrated she made her way back to the station. On the bright side she had at least got in her steps for the day, it was something that had been hard to do since she'd left medicine.

Something Yamato had said kept replaying through her thoughts no matter how hard she tried to drown it out. _Worried. _While she certainly didn't know either man enough to make any judgement calls about their character, Sakura still couldn't turn off the part of her brain that wanted to take care of those around her. It had served her well as a doctor and surgeon and it was indelibly etched into her whole being. So she too began to worry.

Another thing about Sakura Haruno, she didn't give up easy. She didn't want to walk back into that precinct with no idea of where her partner had been. Maybe he was the one now waiting for her at his desk. She huffed loudly as she walked.

There was no way around it, she would have to go back now, but she was not taking the long way this time. Watching her feet, Sakura decided to take a short cut through the cemetery, all the while wondering where her partner could possibly be. The only other thing she knew about the man was that his last partner had been killed in the line of duty...

If Sakura had believed in fate she'd have attributed what happened next to that. But as she had only taken this short cut out of laziness it was just dumb blind luck.

For when she looked up and toward the exit, her eyes were drawn to a familiar shock of silver hair, crouching by a gravestone.

"Found you." She whispered under her breath.

He was visiting his fallen partner. Her steps toward him were both heavy and cautious, not wanting to fracture their tenuous partnership so soon, but they needed to get moving. Kakashi had said so himself, hadn't he?

"Haruno..." He nodded as he stood but his eyes never left the grave in front of him.

"Hatake."

The greeting might have seemed cold to her yesterday, but she liked to think she knew him at least a little better for the time they had worked together. It wasn't cold per say, Kakashi was just a man of little words. It meant that when he opened his mouth to speak, what he had to say held more brevity than the usual man.

"How did you find me?"

"Followed the smell of stale Chinese food and coffee."

Kakashi huffed in amusement before his eyes quickly darted to her and then back to the grave.

"You know if you wanted to find me, there's these wonderful inventions that most self respecting detectives have, it's called a cellphone."

_Oh shit. I could have just rung him from the office._

"Well..." she fought back a splutter of embarrassment. "It's not like I have your number."

"Nothing stopping you from asking Tsunade, or Genma, or reception..."

"Yeah, yeah I get the point. Tsunade is in a right mood about the press she's getting for the case. We need to be contacting the family to get DNA..."

"Sakura, don't fret. We've got time."

While he sounded calm and assured there was something about him that was amiss. Some unknown factor that hadn't been attached to him yesterday. It was as if he was suddenly looking his age. And though she didn't know him as well as the others might, Sakura decided that was cause for concern.

"Well I've had Yamato swearing at me all morning, Tsunade calling me in to her office..."

"Yamato rang, huh?"

"Yes, though not about the case, it was about your behavior..."

Kakashi's deep sigh stopped the words from passing her lips. Perhaps if she were silent he would offer her the information freely. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, Sakura watched his brows raise fractionally before he returned it to his jacket.

"So he did. Like I said Detective, no need to fret. I already contacted the missing woman's next of kin early hours of this morning."

"Wha... You did?"

"Yes, the mother lives all the way across town but she was coming into the city for an appointment. She promised to swing by the precinct before she headed back. Which reminds me, we're gonna be late, better get going."

Without so much as another word or explanation for his absence and oddness Kakashi began to stride off toward the entrance. Sakura blinked a couple times watching his quickly disappearing figure. It was only out of some unknown feeling of respect for a fallen officer that she cast her eyes quickly to the grave before she left.

She did not expect to see something so familiar.

Obito _Uchiha._

Surely he couldn't be one of _those _Uchiha's...

"Hurry up Haruno or we'll be late!"

She heard him from the gate and annoyance took over, erasing her current thought pattern. The urge to shout and bite back at him was strong but wouldn't be entirely appropriate considering where they were. So, she instead settled for shouting with her inner voice just to get it out of her system.

_We'll be late? Son of a bitch, I was on time, waiting for your sorry ass to get in…_

The internal spiel continued long after she had caught up to the man and walked beside him. The only reason Sakura silenced that monologue was because of the interruption, Kakashi cleared his throat a couple times as if he were trying to force the words out. It wasn't as if she were waiting for an apology, or expecting one for that matter, but she was waiting for something. It was just a shame he fell within the category of emotionally stunted and repressed middle-aged male.

_Perhaps he needs a hand._

"You alright there?"

"Mmm. I'd meant to leave a copy of the case file on your desk with a note. Must've slipped my mind. Sorry."

_There you go._

It reaffirmed the theory in Sakura's mind that Kakashi really was a decent enough person deep down. It was just a matter of being patient enough to dig through the bullshit to find it.

"It's fine. Let's just get the sample as soon as we can. Shizune says the vic's DNA will be at the field office by the end of the day."

Kakashi nodded before going back to that stoic male silence, it remained that way for the entirety of the walk back to the precinct. It was the first time security hadn't blinked an eye at her entrance, so having Hatake beside her was at least good for that if nothing else. It wasn't until the elevator that she actually took a better look at the man.

He was disheveled and tired, she could tell that much from his eyes alone, but he was wearing the same clothes as yesterday which only added to the look. Yamato had been concerned and Sakura finally understood why. Though she was only a rookie detective it didn't take much sleuthing to see the truth of the matter. She'd seen the gravestone.

The year anniversary of Obito's death had just come to pass. The toll that grief had taken stood beside her now.

It was in her nature to want to help, a knee jerk reaction that caused many of those around her to suddenly become patients, even if they weren't aware of it. That being said she didn't really know the man well enough to offer a shoulder to lean on or a listening ear, psychiatry had never been her favorite subject. So all she could do was stand beside him, step off the elevator and into the noise of the precinct, and hope that he would seek solace in his own time somewhere warmer than a graveyard.

The colorful characters of the bullpen were a stark contrast to the pregnant silence they had been walking in. Before Sakura could even shed her coat, Hatake had unlocked his desk drawer, pulling out a folder and holding it out to her.

"Here."

It was Samantha Winters case file, and while Sakura only had a small frame of reference, it seemed depressingly slim for a missing persons case.

"Not much to go on." She murmured as she flicked through the pages.

"Mmm. No witnesses, no leads. Happens more often than you'd think, best case scenario it's a woman who has fled the state to get away from an abusive boyfriend or ex. But that doesn't fit the bill here."

"How so?"

"Samantha's mother is ill, cancer of some kind. Samantha would never have left her without care in the way that she did, unless it was by forces out of her control."

"I see, she was due to take the mother to the hospital for an appointment but never showed. Out of character for her?"

"According to the mother and work colleagues that were questioned at the time of her disappearance. You'll see a boyfriend listed there in the file, but he's never come in to the precinct, we've called him a few times. Guy holds down a job at a gas station near where the skull was found."

Sakura took in every word he'd said, processing what she could, using the instincts she'd awoken as a detective. It seemed like Kakashi had really done his homework on this one, just how much time had he spent combing through this measly file? Had he spent all night calling people?

"We need to talk to this boyfriend properly…" Sakura mumbled, though Kakashi was not even showing the slightest inclination of listening.

Something struck her as odd, she couldn't name or place it, but it was something. And when that familiar feeling prickled the back of her neck, Sakura Haruno wouldn't let up until the problem had been fixed. She only had a moment to ruminate before a uniformed officer appeared beside Hatake's desk, tapping on the wood.

"Detective Hatake? I have a here to see you, she's sitting in the family room."

"Thanks, Kotetsu."

"It's Izumo, Hatake, we are two completely different people..." The officer huffed as he left muttering expletives under his breath.

Sakura took a second to gather her thoughts, Kakashi moved much faster than she expected, taking the file back and stepping away without a word. Scrambling to grab her notebook and phone and then to catch up to him. Hatake had stopped at the door, casting a side glance, his face impassive.

"You've never dealt with family of the missing before right, Haruno? Feel free to leave this one to me."

He gave no pause for her to answer or to form any kind of protest at the insinuation that she couldn't handle her own job. Perhaps it was his ill-guided attempt at being nice to her after not being here this morning? That was the conclusion she was running with anyway as they stepped into the cramped family room.

The stale smell of coffee assaulted her nose first, with undertones of grease emanating from the microwave, topped off by a heady waft of perfume. Sitting on the dilapidated sofa was a small frail woman, at first glance she looked like any ordinary citizen, but Sakura had seen enough of the infirm to know the telltale signs. The dark circles under the eyes, the slight paling color of the skin, hair that was too shiny and healthy to be real.

"Mrs. Winters? I'm Detective Hatake, this is Detective Haruno."

The woman nodded with a tired smile, one that was filled with anxious wait, Sakura could see it in her eyes. There was a manic kind of hope reflected there waiting to hear of any news regarding her missing daughter. Suddenly the heavy weight of the emotional limbo became very real for Sakura as well.

"Thank you so much for coming in to meet us." Sakura interjected feeling the overwhelming need to put this poor woman at ease even if it was only with the smallest of comforts.

"Not at all, now tell me, what news do you have?"

Kakashi took a deep breath, it was as if a switch had been flipped in the man, he was no longer the borderline professional that she had been familiar with. Now he was showing her just what years of experience and mastery could bring to the job. He took the seat beside her on the sofa while Sakura pulled over a chair.

"Nothing definite yet, Mrs. Winters…"

"That...skull that was found in the lake yesterday, do you think, is it her?"

"I won't beat around the bush, it is a possibility, one that we can rule out or confirm by taking your DNA sample. Now, I know you were asked a lot of repetitive questions three weeks ago, is it alright if I ask you some of them now?" Kakashi waited for the woman's nod of approval before continuing gently. "Any information you can offer us will be fine, even the smallest detail could be helpful…"

"I'm not sure what else there is to tell, but I'll do whatever I can to help."

Kakashi retrieved a small clear bag from within the confines of his jacket.

"This is a simple DNA kit, I'm going to swab the inside of your cheeks for the cells before handing it off to our lab field office. The results can vary, sometimes it takes a few days."

Even the way he explained things had a soothing effect not just on Mrs. Winters, but on Sakura as well. She wasn't sure how he managed to make his tone both encouraging and soft all at once but it was definitely something she noted to use at a later date. The frail woman complied and it took all of about 30 seconds, Kakashi taking the extra measure to don gloves, Sakura was on the right track to being actually impressed by his work ethic for the first time since they met.

"Can you tell me about the last time you spoke with your daughter?"

"It was the afternoon of the 12th, I remember because it was the day of my second MRI and it had been rushed forward a week. Sam rang from work to say she was on her way, it must have been about 2pm, we were due at the hospital at 4pm. The hour came and went with no sign of her. Then the next, and the next. I know, I know that she would not let me down on purpose."

There was a silent pause, Kakashi nodding just a little, Sakura found a stinging in her eyes she was not expecting. That wretched empathy that had made her work as a doctor so much harder than she could bare some days. The only way to turn it off was to concentrate on the facts with constant clarity but it was exhausting to maintain for any length of time. And there were so little facts in this case to go on… So instead she focussed on Kakashi's voice, perhaps that would work in calming her feelings.

"Your daughter worked at a General Store part time as a clerk. She didn't hold any other jobs?"

"No, just the one, she had to put herself through nursing school on her own. Any money I had to spare went on my treatment. She was on break from school when she… well…"

The emotion in the air was palpable and hard to ignore.

_Get it together Sakura, you've seen much worse than this._

"How long had she worked there?"

Though Kakashi was managing to forge onwards with the questions.

"Oh, I'm not sure. When my treatment started… 18 months or so I guess."

"And there was no one that she worked with, or mentioned, who might have any issues with Sam?"

"No, not especially. She'd made some good friends while she worked there. It was probably the only good thing to come from the place."

There was a distinct shift in Detective Hatake, or maybe he had been edging toward it the whole time they had been asking questions. It was an imperceptible tilt of his head, a sudden light in those tired grey eyes.

"I take it by your tone that you didn't approve of her working there."

"Not especially, but a job's a job in this day and age. It wouldn't have been so bad if she hadn't met… that _boy _while she was at that store. Now that was something I couldn't approve of. When they broke up the first time I was so very relieved, I wanted to believe that was the end of it, but she wanted to work things out with the boy. It was hard not to argue with her about it so we stopped talking about him altogether for a time"

"This is the boyfriend…"

"Mizuki Tsubaki." Mrs. Winters spat with disdain. "The only good part about him is his mother. She at least had the sense to ring me and help me to file a missing persons report."

Sakura couldn't remember reading that detail in the file.

"You didn't report her as missing when she failed to pick you up?"

"Not initially no, I wondered perhaps if she'd run into traffic or that rust box of a car had broken down somewhere. I thought it was odd but that she would turn up eventually."

"There's no mention of Mizuki's mother in the original report."

"She asked to be left out of it, didn't want her son to know that she was involved in any way."

_That's a red flag. _

"And that didn't strike you as 'odd', Mrs. Winters?"

Kakashi's tone of voice had completely shifted, he was using the woman's own words against her in a tone that was full of attitude. It was enough to make Sakura's eyes snap to the detective, and all she could do to make sure her jaw didn't drop open.

"Why should it? The woman was kind enough to take me to the police station, she just waited in the car while it took hours for my statement to be taken." Mrs. Winters sniffed loudly. "I didn't blame her for not wanting to get involved, couldn't ask her to in any case, she'd driven me all that way and back again…"

"Mrs. Winters, you realize in failing to tell us that detail originally you've delayed the investigation substantially…"

"Detective Hatake…" Sakura found her voice in her shock, trying politely at first to dissuade him from speaking any further.

"Not just that, but you only deigned to report your own daughter as missing at the behest of a third party. You didn't think to send out a search party? Call her friends to check and see if the car had broken down?"

"Kakashi…" She spoke louder this time, watching the trembling of the fragile woman increase, Sakura wanted to reach out to her and take her hand and stop the shaking.

"You didn't think it slightly suspicious that this woman rang you up out of the blue and drove you all the way to the police station? You didn't ask her why she thought it was so urgent?"

"Detective, you're out of line…"

"You didn't tell us the whole story. You didn't even _think _to mention these details before. We could have found your daughter by…"

"**Kakashi!"**

This time she stood, she shouted, unable to watch him continue any further. He had changed and morphed into this unrecognizable being of anger, blatantly yelling at a very sick woman who had lost her only daughter. Sakura had clenched and shaking fists herself, she mustered the best Tsunade death stare impression in her arsenal, she needed him to stop.

And it worked.

The scowl that had crept onto his face began to ebb away. It replaced itself with a placid expression of mild shock. His eyes softened.

She would deal with him later.

"Take that sample to the field office Detective, I'll finish up."

Detective Hatake made no noise, no notion of understanding, he just stood and left without a sound. While Sakura had half a mind to order him to apologize she just wanted him out of the room for the time being. Once he was gone she turned her attention to Mrs. Winters.

"I'm so sorry about that Ma'am, he was out of line, he's been under stress lately but that's no excuse for…"

"It's quite alright dear. It wasn't pleasant to be sure, but he is unfortunately right." She sighed deeply, wringing her withered hands together. "There's a kind of selfishness one has to adopt for survival's sake when they're as ill as I am. And it appears as if my daughter, Sam, well she was the one to suffer for it. If I'd been more of a mother to her… if I'd been interested in her life a bit more, maybe none of this would have happened."

There was another silent pause. Sakura knew all too well the kind of self absorbed tendencies of the sick. Now she was seeing the ramifications of it up close and personal. She took another moment's pause before she spoke again, allowing the woman to calm herself completely and stop trembling.

"I'll try not to keep you too long Mrs Winters, there's just one more question I have to ask, if you think you are up to answering."

Another sniff.

"Of course, fire away."

"When you spoke with your daughter on the phone the day she went missing, you said she was at work. Did she say anything else? Anything at all that was out of character, she didn't seem scared or confused…"

"She sounded… well she sounded happy, excited even. I just wish I had asked her why…"

Sakura thanked the woman profusely, going so far as to organize her transport to her appointment for her. Seeing her to the door and making sure she was out of the precinct before she turned on her partner.

_Partner. _He certainly hadn't included her in whatever machinations he'd had in store for that meeting. The audacity of it, the poor woman had at least taken it tolerably well, but that was beside the point. It shouldn't have happened like that in the first place, Sakura had half a mind to march straight into the Captain's office. There was a nagging voice in her mind telling her that the Kakashi she knew, albeit briefly, would not have acted so poorly without reason.

_That doesn't matter though, he still left you in the dark, not to mention that poor lady…_

The bottom line was that they were supposed to be partners and he had acted rashly on his own, both last night and today. And she needed to call him out on it now, nip it in the bud and show him that she meant business. This was her case too damnit.

Through the whole elevator ride back to the bullpen she rehearsed what she would say in her mind. The anger giving her a kind of clarity that made it dangerous for those on the receiving end. Aunt Tsunade had certainly taught her well. Kakashi was sitting at his desk when she arrived, moving swiftly she went straight for him, his face still emotionless. He stood when he saw her.

"Detective Haruno, I'm so…."

"Hatake, come with me. Now." She spat the last word for good measure, this wasn't a request, this was an order. One which he surprisingly complied with.

It didn't matter that she had little idea where she was leading him, any quiet place without distraction would do, and preferably sound proof. A solution presented itself, she snatched a good handful of his jacket before throwing him into the observation room. There was no one in the interrogation chamber, and no one would be able to hear them here, i t would do well.

Kakashi remained silent.

"First, did you get that sample to the lab?"

He blinked a few times as if she had seriously thrown him off guard with the question. She enjoyed that look on his face more than she probably should.

"Yes, I put fast track on it. I can show you how to do that later if you want…"

"Thanks, that would be great." Sakura registered that her voice was an octave or two higher than usual. Her irritation was rising with each second. All the rehearsed questions and accusations she'd formed in the elevator all came up at once and it became hard to tell which one screamed to be spoken first.

"Listen, Sakura, I…"

"No! No, you listen Hatake." She wasn't about to let him have the upper hand in this conversation but her usual command of words was absent. Sakura settled for the first thing to come out of her mouth. "What the actual fuck were you thinking in there?"

A pause.

"I'm sorry, I let my emotions get the better of me, I'm tired and…."

"No, not good enough Kakashi. You need to apologize to her as well. She's _sick, _Hatake. A sick and dying woman who has lost her only daughter, and you all but charged her of impeding an investigation. She's doing her best, better than a lot of mothers at any rate, you had no right to be so callous and cruel to her. Especially when she willingly came in and offered a sample! So I'll repeat, what the fuck Kakashi?"

"You shouldn't swear it's unbefitting a lady with pink hair…"

"Hatake so help me I will break all your bones and make it look like an accident. Stop trying to back out of this"

Another pause.

"I can't… I can't explain."

"You can't? Or you won't?" Sakura watched his eyes, they remained unwavering, looking back at her. It was as if he were waiting for something. "Are you seriously trying to pull one over on me? I need to know now so that I can seriously look into finding a new partner. 50/50 Hatake, that's what we agreed on. Just tell me what the fuck you were up to in there."

"You wouldn't understand…"

"Why don't you fucking try me, Hatake? Let me guess, it's because you don't think I'm a real detective yet, is that it? Because I've got news for you jackass, I'm here because I'm a fucking good detective, and I'm going to be the best. Wanna know why?"

Kakashi's expression shifted to one of mild annoyance which only spurred her on further.

"If I had to guess I would say it's because you're proving someone wrong, a man specifically."

"Wrong." She snarled. "I'm going to be the best detective because it's what I am best at, it's what I'm made for. To quote the sargeant I treated, my talents were wasted as a physician. I had found two serial rapists before even joining the academy, I figured it out by going through years of records in my own spare time, because I am sick and fucking tired of being powerless. I am over being left in the dark and unable to make a difference. I was told to just shut up and treat those victims, to not look into it, and if I had listened there would be more bodies. More victims." Sakura took a breath and tried to steady herself, she hadn't meant to give away so much of herself but it was too late now. "I'm going to be the best because then I can make an actual fucking difference, I know I can. And here you stand, getting in my way and keeping me in the dark. So I'll ask you one more time, what the fuck were you doing in there Kakashi?"

She could see his mind processing her words through his eyes. They were studying her closely, scanning her face, looking for something again. When he didn't say anything she continued.

"I want to see this case through to the end, but if you don't trust me, there's no point. Partners are meant to…"

"Do you trust me?" Kakashi asked abruptly, that searing gaze still fixed upon her. She found herself answering immediately, unhindered by any thought process, which was at once a surprise and concern for her.

"Yes, yes I do."

The words held such weight that they flattened the atmosphere around them even further. Sakura was unable to take her eyes from his, like they were locked in some strange battle for the upperhand, or trying to find a way to read each other's minds.

"Alright…" he spoke quietly at first. "Alright then."

"Alright what?"

The deep sigh of defeat was what broke her stare, she was met with the sight of a man who not only looked exhausted physically, but in every sense of the word. Had she not noticed this before?

"Come with me. I'll show you."

There it was again, that softness in his voice that made her feel calm. It was an odd experience considering the anger that had all but consumed her seconds ago. Sakura nodded.

Not once in their walk through the bullpen, down the elevator and out of the precinct did she think to ask where they might be going. The Sakura who had been head of surgery at Konoha General would have sobbed uncontrollably or had an instant panic attack at the very idea. But Detective Haruno, well she was going to trust her partner for the moment so she could get the answers she needed.

He led her to the shitty sedan, jumping into the driver's seat, Sakura noted here that the vehicle had been unlocked. They sat in a kind of visceral silence for the duration of the journey, though it was only a ten minute drive.

Kakashi parked on the street outside of a dilapidated apartment complex. Sakura was a little transfixed as she looked up the brick walls and windows of the building. There were all sorts of things littering the fire escape which was a hazard for the eyes as well as any emergency that might take place. She pitied anyone who had to live in such a place with such lax upkeep.

"Home sweet home…" Kakashi mumbled, Sakura was just glad she hadn't said any of her previous thoughts out loud.

He was taking her to his home? What could he possibly have to show her there? Was this all a rouse to get her alone..

_No. He's your partner. He wouldn't do that, he's a professional._

But after that display with today she wasn't so sure of anything anymore. Though she did trust him, and she reminded herself that fact with every step she took up the landing, following behind Kakashi.

They stopped moving on the second floor, she was glad there wasn't much more of a climb, he fumbled with his keys for a second. The green door opened to darkness although it was only the early afternoon, Sakura squinted as she stepped into the inky blackness, it didn't deter Kakashi. There was a ruffling kind of sound and something warm brushed against her legs.

"Wouldn't have pegged you for a cat person.."

The light was switched on and she had to blink a couple times as she looked down.

"I'm most certainly not, now apologize to Pakkun for comparing him to a lower feline…"

Sakura bent at the knee with a smile, ruffling her hand through the pugs ears.

"Sorry Master Pakkun, my mistake…"

The dog made a satisfied borking sound before licking her hand fiercely. He then waddled off to a basket by the door. Sakura looked around the dimly lit apartment, it was small but probably a cheap and ideal bachelor pad. The entrance was connected to a bedroom, tidy enough, with a bathroom connected that she could see. On the other side of the foyer was a kitchen, where Kakashi's form was disappearing into. She followed slowly taking in the sparse surroundings.

The kitchen had a table and chairs in it, Kakashi switching on the lights as he went, she had to wonder why it was so dark in here to begin with. She followed him across the tiles and to another door, he stepped inside, beckoning her into the darkness.

Sakura could never have expected what she would see when he turned on that light. She had anticipated that it was something of importance, but there had been no inclination before now that it was a matter of _madness. _

The lights were dim at first, but as they heated and grew brighter so too did her full view of the situation. For in this room was one measly couch, a loaded coffee table, a television. But it was the walls, the walls that were screaming to her that Kakashi had slipped far off the deep end.

Every surface was covered, plastered, the windows as well. All of it with pictures, hand written notes, newspaper clippings, printed articles and maps. She stepped closer toward it as though it may explode in her face, her mouth agape.

One picture held her attention, because she saw a familiar face staring back at her, it was from a newspaper headline.

**KONOHA DETECTIVE MURDERED BY SERIAL KILLER**

The sprightly smile of a uniformed officer by the name of Obito Uchiha.

Sakura was looking at the unsolved murder of Obito Uchiha sprawled across the walls and windows of his former partner's apartment.

The shock and realization hit her all at once, but there was no time to dwell, she felt Kakashi's tall shadow stand beside her. Reaching out he unpinned a scrap of paper from the wall of chaos, his hand almost shaking as he held it out to her.

"This, this is why I can't… I can't let it go."

It was a lot to take in at once, but as she took the paper from him she had that prickling feeling at the back of her neck.

To anyone else this was garbage, it was a receipt for iced tea and potato chips, it was meaningless. But there was a name printed there, and it was all too familiar. Sakura's eyes darted up to Kakashi.

"Samantha Winters…"

He nodded in reply.

To anyone else it was junk, but to Detective Kakashi Hatake, it was a lead.


	6. Chapter 6

"This, this is why I can't… I can't let it go."

The words managed to stumble their way through his brain and out of his mouth, though he didn't feel entirely in control of them any longer. It was hard to maintain his own thoughts without the voice of Obito as his conscience. A conscience that had remained silent, eerily so, and that silence had been deafening for Kakashi. For the entire night he had jumped from one thing to the next just to distract himself from the absence of his voice of reason.

"Samantha Winters…"

He nodded solemnly to Sakura.

While his former partner was no longer interjecting within his own mind, he had a living breathing partner standing right here beside him, and she wasn't too timid to call him out on his behaviour. Which is exactly what he needed.

Was it a mistake to show her the work that he had kept so close to his heart for the past year? Perhaps. But for now he needed a voice of reason.

"This…:" She stepped toward the picture of Obito cut from the newspaper article of his death. It was his academy graduation photo, Kakashi knew, he had been there when it was taken. "This is Obito."

"This is everything I have, everything I've been doing day and night for the last year. When the meagre leads went cold I went into surveillance, sent out informants, dredged up old cases that might have new links." Kakashi followed her closely with his eyes as she stepped slowly taking in his murder wall. "Do you see now? This is why I can't, couldn't have another partner, not until I catch this bastard and lay Obito to rest…"

In just saying his name out loud Kakashi felt a surging of emotion which he had to swallow thickly down. It was pathetic. Sakura would likely tell him that for herself in a few short moments.

"You've done all this by yourself?"

She never took her eyes from the wall of evidence, pictures, articles, statistics…

"Yeah...a month after his death I begged Tsunade for the case after it ran cold. Cashed in all my chips to get it too, but the major crimes unit couldn't solve it either, so here it is."

Sakura was still holding the receipt tightly in her hand, Kakashi half expected her to screw it up and toss it at him before making her escape, but she didn't. Instead she very carefully, slowly, almost reverently, pinned it back into place on the wall where it had come from.

"Well, maybe another set of eyes will get the case heated up."

She turned and met his gaze, determined and unwavering. So very much akin to the fire and spark that Obito had once brought into his life.

"Haruno, I can't ask…"

"You didn't, and you don't need to ask."

"It's dangerous, what if something happened to you just like…"

"Then that's something we'll face together, as partners, right? 50/50."

Kakashi didn't move, didn't blink, there was only silence. Maybe showing her all of this wasn't a mistake at all, maybe the mistake had been keeping it to himself for so long. Maybe she could really help him bring this to an end.

_Now you've got it, Kashi. _

The sigh of relief that escaped him was both out of finally hearing the quiet voice of Obito again pushing him in the right direction, and because he'd made the right decision to trust her. Sakura was quick, even if she was new to the game. This beguiled Kakashi as much as it triggered the long dormant tingling sensation at the back of his neck, the feeling that she was hiding something.

But she would tell him when the time was right, just as she'd told him today why she had become a detective. And Kakashi trusted that she would be honest with him.

"50/50, yeah, it's a deal."

She continued to surprise him further by smiling a fraction in his direction. Unless it was all a clever ruse before she had him committed to a mental facility.

"One thing at a time, alright? We don't know for certain yet if the DNA from the skull matches Samantha, so we follow up on the other leads while we wait. We question the boyfriend, and the boyfriends mother. Did you have any store footage pulled for this?" She gestured with a thumb to the receipt on the wall without looking at it.

Kakashi blinked a couple times, she was already an expert without even trying.

"Somewhere in the case file yeah, it was the last place Obito was seen alive that day, which we have evidence of anyway. There's a two hour gap after that purchase which is unaccounted for. There wasn't much to show on tape from memory, but I was watching for Obito, not for Samantha Winters. You think it's worth another look?"

"I'd say so. But first things first, let's follow up on these other leads while we have daylight. We're gonna do this together one step at a time, okay?"

Sakura held her hand out as if she meant for him to take it, Kakashi's fingers twitched unexpectedly, suddenly unsure of his surroundings. How could she be so readily accepting of his madness and willing to help. Maybe _she _was the crazy one here after all.

_Stop being a jerk, Kashi. Focus._

Obito was right as usual, Kakashi looked quizzically at Sakura.

"Keys?" She finally said, flexing her fingers. "I can only handle one dose of your driving a day Hatake. I'll take the wheel this time."

"I thought you wanted to follow these leads up in daylight, Haruno? You sure you can get us there before sunset?"

Even as he made the quip he was digging into his pocket for the keys to give to her.

"Haha, very funny. Let's get moving. I've got some questions, you can fill me in on the way."

"Sure. If there's enough time we could grab a bite to eat on Main Street, they have the good donburi place there…"

"What is it with you and food? Or do you always just think with your stomach?"

"Better than the other organ most males think with if you ask me…"

Silence. The joke had come out of his mouth without his express permission and for a split second he wondered if it had been incredibly poor taste. Usually that kind of thing wouldn't have exactly concerned him, but now that he thought about it, Tsunade was the only female he'd worked with on the force. Her bolshiness wasn't exactly common, and for the first time since he'd met her, he really didn't want Sakura to be put off by his weirdness.

She pinched the bridge of her nose, looking every bit the put upon female, but the smile on her face betrayed her actions.

"I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I'm glad to see you back to normal, Hatake."

Pakkun made a soft borking noise from his spot on the floor as if in agreement. Before leaving Kakashi made sure to give him one of the good treats from on top of the fridge. In the time it had taken him to retrieve it, Sakura had opened all the curtains in the living room.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"You're not a vampire Kakashi, get some goddamn natural light in here."

"What's the point? By the time I get home it's dark and I have to shut them anyway, and the light will compromise the images on the walls..."

"You're telling me you don't also have digital copies of all these?"

"Ugh, no."

"Jesus fucking Christ. Okay, well that can be my mission for another day. Let's get going."

The whole way through the hallway, down the stairs and to the car, Kakashi was utterly perplexed by her. He was glad his mouth wasn't agape in a stupor but his eyes hadn't been able to focus on anything else apart from that head of pink. As she adjusted the seat in the sedan he couldn't keep it in any longer.

"Are you.. sure about this, Haruno? The information you just saw, Obito's case, it isn't for the faint of heart and it's dangerous..."

"Again, I'm sure Kakashi. And I'm anything but weak of heart, don't let the hair fool you."

"I'm serious, Sakura."

"So am I." Her tone changed and she finally met his eye as she put the key in the ignition. "It's not just because we're partners, and it's not just because I'm out to prove something to you, I wanna catch this guy. I want to help."

Kakashi believed her emphatically.

"Alright. We do this together though, no solo work, that's the rule. And I mean that seriously, if I catch you following a lead without me we're done."

"Ditto."

Her immediate response settled the matter in Kakashi's mind, he nodded and she took it as a signal to get going.

_Do you even know where you're going, Kashi?_

Instinctively he told that inner voice to shut up, which was a shock considering how Obito's recent silence had affected him so badly. No matter how hard he wished it to be true, that inner voice was only his conscience and nothing more, it was not Obito. He would never hear Obito speak again, so he would have to settle for that voice in his mind and make do with what it told him. It was a poor substitute for the man himself, a man who would have solved this case long ago without any help at all.

It wasn't unusual for him to banter with his conscience, a back and forth that was a shadow of what it had been with Obito while he was alive. But again Kakashi was forgetting that there was someone else in the car.

"So this serial killer, how many vic's are we talking?"

"The Kyuubi killer, well we don't know definitively, known victims tallies up to six spanning the last two years. But the way he kills, it's professional."

"Why haven't I heard about this perp before?"

"There's an injunction on all local media not to publicize anything to do with this nut job. We're unclear on exactly what he wants, but we can't rule out that is doing this for a specific kind of sick attention."

"And what do _you _think?"

Her eyes were on the road but Kakashi knew they would hold that focused fire he'd seen for the last two days.

"I've spent the last two years trying to get into this psycho's head and the only thing I can say with any certainty is that we're dealing with someone who has a specific purpose in mind. They are habitual, precise and intelligent beyond all conventional measures."

"What's their MO?"

"Bodies cut into nine pieces, eyes removed, blood drained from their bodies. Except his last one... Obito... Either he didn't have time to finish up or it wasn't the intended target, I can't be sure, but he left a lot of blood behind and only one eye was removed."

"Jesus Christ."

"I told you it was heavy stuff."

"Wait, so if Obito was his last victim, he's been dormant for a year. Could Samantha Winters be a new victim of the Kyuubi killer?"

"That's why Captain Tsunade wants this solved quick, in my mind it can't be the same perp, his scenes were always staged for us to find. But that doesn't stop an animal taking the head from the site... There's never been a link between the victims before now, he's in-discriminatory as far as who he kills. The only thing each of the victims have in common is they are between 30 and 40 years of age. So _if _this is him, and that's a big if, he's made his first mistake."

"The more victims the more mistakes he's gotta make, right? That's how it usually goes."

"Usually, yeah. But this guy, he seemed to only get better at leaving less evidence with each body. Even started taunting us, leaving maps of where he was going to leave a body next, taking more and more time to stage the scenes in graphic and disturbing ways... "

"Were there any suspects?"

"Obito and I followed a couple of leads, all dead ends The most promising was exhausted after the third victim, there were organs missing from each body and the Shimura crime family had a member on the donor list for a liver transplant. Except we found those organs later on in the display of the fourth and fifth victim so our informants gave up the idea."

There was a bridge of silence, Kakashi felt that desperation seep back into his system, the need to get back to the walls of his apartment. At first they had been necessary for his legitimately working the case at hand, but now it served more as a reminder of what he had failed to do, what needed to be done. Every single piece of information on those walls was indelibly etched into his brain and he would not likely forget a single detail.

It wasn't that he'd forgotten Sakura was in the car with him, he had just begun following the trail of evidence in his mind and lost track of his surroundings. She appeared to be mulling all that information over as well. Kakashi noticing flippantly that she had at least driven past the hospital and not turned to check him into the mental facilities.

"Was there any idea of what was used to dismember the bodies?"

The question struck him as odd all of a sudden but he could follow her line of thought as a former surgeon.

"At first he used a combination of power tools and hand instruments, we never really had any idea of what they were exactly. He seemed to have a technique down by the fourth victim. Very little evidence on the bones themselves..."

"Cause of death?"

"He alternated between strangulation and severing the carotid artery.

"Quick, efficient..."

She had that look about her again but this time Kakashi couldn't follow her thoughts.

"What are you thinking, Detective?"

_Finally being direct and to the point, Kashi, nice._

"I'd like to see the profile of the subject before making any assumptions out loud..."

"Something about the case bothering you? If this is gonna work we've got to work through this together, full transparency at all times."

"Not.. bothering me per say, just a feeling. From what you've told me, I'm beginning to wonder as to the profession of the killer, it wouldn't surprise me if they were a doctor, dentist, or in the medical field."

"Interesting theory there, from memory the psych profile had the same connotation. But what makes you think so?"

Kakashi could see the gas station they were headed toward in the distance, Sakura didn't answer him immediately.

"You'd have to have knowledge of the human body, how it works, to pull off such a thing so easily and without evidence. Which makes me wonder how, where he perfected his technique. I'm willing to bet that this wasn't his first time dismembering a body, human or otherwise."

"So we're looking for someone with either medical knowledge, or a checkered past

with animals, or both... Would be nice if we had an approximate age of the perp so we could mass search cases of that nature. There's just too many to do it blindly without any indication to a year to focus on."

He glanced sideways to his new partner, she was chewing on her bottom lip as they turned into the parking lot. Sakura seemed to be the kind of person who spoke her thoughts, as she had done with Kakashi over the past few days, and he appreciated that outright honesty. It pained him on another level however, it was too much like Obito. And in the past the one time Obito had kept something from him it had ended their partnership, ended his life. As the car pulled up Kakashi wondered what exactly Sakura was keeping from him in this moment. Was it in his head? Did it matter in the long run?

_Of course it matters, she's your partner, idiot._

"Kakashi, there's something I wanna ask..." There was a pause and a reverence to her tone, he met her eye and nodded. "Obito's last name is Uchiha, is he any relation to the Uchiha brothers, do you know?"

He blinked a few times out of confusion at the question and where it could possibly lead to.

"Potentially, I know it's a large family. What are their first names?"

"Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha."

The way Sakura spoke, the way she looked, it gave away very little. So little in fact that Kakashi thought it a deliberate display for his benefit but it was only a hunch. In the interest of full disclosure Kakashi kept honest in his reply.

"I don't know any Sasuke, but I do remember Itachi, we've occasionally used him as an expert medical witness. I don't know that he's any relation to Obito, certainly not a brother, maybe a cousin. Why do you ask?"

"Just professional curiosity." Her answer sounded rehearsed. "The brothers are both doctors at Konoha General, I just linked the names..."

"Do you... think they might be connected to the Kyuubi killer?"

"Well it was just something you said, medical knowledge and checkered past..."

Kakashi didn't want to push her, but Sakura sat there silently and her eyes began to mist over, it prompted him to ask.

"What about it?"

Silence again.

"It could be nothing. But I'd like to have a good look at the case files before I make any first thing I want to look at is how the bodies were separated, and how the eyes were removed, if any surgical instruments were used in the process."

"The killer could well be someone in the surgical field. Did you want to ask the brothers opinion on it?"

Sakura shook her head, unfastened her seat belt.

"Not if they were the last doctors in Konoha. We're here. Let's get this sorted."

There was no arguing or talking about the matter because Sakura had already left the vehicle. Kakashi blinked a couple times, trying to process what had just happened, but the only conclusion he could draw from it was that he needed more information. Sakura was starting to develop that sixth sense, that detective's intuition that was at once both a blessing and a curse. While it could be a useful tool it also inherently lead to danger, it was something that needed to be approached and used with caution.

Kakashi was just glad that it appeared to him at least, Detective Haruno was usually a cautious person. He would still keep a close eye on her to be sure.

The gas station was one of those larger centers that was never a destination but provided every possible amenity to a limited degree. Complete with an attached fast food joint, gift shop for those forgotten things, car wash and small playground. Kakashi noted the available CCTV cameras on the outside of the building, two facing the pumps, one facing the exit. Sakura was waiting for him at the entrance with a hand on her hip.

"You didn't lock the sedan."

"You think anyone in their right mind would steal that hunk of junk, Kakashi? Really?"

"There could be valuables..." Kakashi didn't miss the eye roll in his direction. "Yeah okay you have a point. But the lease is almost up. At least there are three cameras outside for insurance purposes."

"Three? I only counted two."

The pout that passed over her features caused an unexpected reaction within Kakashi, and it was one of intense satisfaction, which was both troubling and curious.

"You'll get it next time, Haruno. The only thing that really matters is that the footage will be useful for proof of this guy's alibi."

She nodded and he could see her focus shift to scanning the building for more information. Not everything was meant to be a competition, but it seemed to be a trait for Sakura, perhaps to do with her past career. It was only a passing amusement for Kakashi.

_Concentrate now Kashi, you're about to question a suspect._

Obito's voice startled him for a fraction of a second, and he was right as usual. Kakashi's focus had been dangerously foggy today and it needed to stop now. The only certainty with being a detective was uncertainty, a situation like this could very well lead to something else, and you could never exactly predict how people would react when accused of murder.

Kakashi was usually a good judge of character anyway, in his mind, he could vaguely sum up a person in a short meeting. But after losing Obito, nothing was certain. This guy could be a murderer, he could be the Kyuubi killer himself, he could pull a gun on them or a knife.

_Focus._

There was a short line to the cash register and no other staff in sight, so they took place in the queue.

"Which pump?" The cashier asked without looking away from the screen beside her.

"We aren't here for gas."

Kakashi slid his Detective's shield across the counter. The clerk regarded it lazily before deigning to meet his eye, the tag on her shirt read 'Ary', and she appeared to be more irritated than surprised at the police officers in front of her.

"It's about time you jerks showed up, but it's too late now."

"Excuse me?"

"You guys never turned up or got back to us so we worked out who was stealing the dirty magazines ourselves and banned them from the store."

Kakashi couldn't help the side glance to Sakura, meeting her wide eyes with mirth before turning back to Ary.

"Fascinating as that is, we're here on other matters. We're looking for someone who works here, Mizuki Tsubaki."

There was a shift to seriousness mingled with confusion, Ary's brow furrowed, it was a look Kakashi was familiar with. It was something akin to curiosity more than concern but could easily be read the other way.

"He's at the side entrance trying to fix the air pump."

She pointed in the vague direction and he nodded his thanks before moving on.

"Dirty magazine bandit, huh?"

"A true mystery that was too great for the likes of us." Sakura quipped flippantly while not paying any attention to Kakashi. "You think that's him?"

"Must be. You wanna take the lead on this one?"

Sakura didn't actually answer the question, she took it rhetorically judging by the set look of determination on her face. Mizuki was wearing the same uniformed shirt as the girl at the cashier, his back was to them, long white hair tied back on his head. The air pump he was supposedly trying to fix was in pieces beside him, tools lying at his feet neatly arranged.

"Mizuki Tsubaki?"

"Yeah that's me."

He turned, wiping his hands on his trousers but not moving from where he stood.

"I'm Detective Haruno, this is Detective Hatake. We're here about..."

"Sam, yeah, I figured. What do you wanna know?"

_Short and to the point._

"We understand that you were romantically involved with Samantha for some time."

"Yes that's right, we were a thing on and off for about a year, something like that."

"We've spoken to Mrs. Winters this morning actually..."

"Oh yeah? What did the old bat have to say about me this time? You know the woman is a lunatic, right."

"Well, she said that you and Samantha had separated..."

"That's what we told her mom to keep her off our backs. Our relationship was none of her business, Sam was happy with me, we were both happy. That old lady just wanted Sam all to herself, wouldn't let her live her own life..."

Kakashi continued to listen, noting a few red flags but keeping his mouth shut, Sakura seemed to be employing the same tactic. Just keep the guy talking, any and all information that came out of his mouth unsolicited could be crucial to the investigation later.

"When was the last time you saw Samantha?"

"Exactly the same as what I told the guy on the phone. She was meant to come by my place after work but she never showed."

"No enemies or someone she didn't get along with? Anyone who might hold a grudge against either of you?"

_That's right Sakura._

She was leading the suspicion way from Mizuki, or was at least making it appear that way to earn his trust. She was getting the information and getting him to talk willingly.

"No one that I can think of, Sam's such a sweet thing, it'd be impossible for anyone to hate her. Have you got anything new to tell me about Sam or where she might be?"

The question raised another red flag for Kakashi. While he was tempted to interject, going so far as to open his mouth to speak, Sakura was no fool. She knew what she was doing and beat him to the punch.

"Well you never came into the station, so we were never able to formally take your statement." Sakura took a pad and pen from her jacket pocket, scribbling a few things down before handing it out to Mizuki, "Can I get your signature in a couple of places? Once for your previous statement and once for today, that'd be great."

"Oh." Mizuki took the pen with a side smile. "Paperwork stuff, huh. Yeah I get it."

"Sorry that we don't bring any news on Samantha for you. Is there something new we should know?"

_Nice Sakura._

Mizuki smirked, handing back the pen and pad.

"Nothing new from me. Just been here, working my ass off. Speaking of which I need to get back to it, unless there's anything else you wanna ask?"

Sakura smirked right back at him.

"Not at this time, but we know where to find you."

"Of course."

Sakura shut the pad and returned it to her pocket, with a nod to Kakashi they both started to make their way back through the center.

"Oh, detectives, one more thing. I love Sam... bring her home for me."

Silence, a nod. The smirk had gone from Mizuki's face and now there was a deep set look of sadness, of longing, of hopelessness perhaps. Kakashi knew the look as it usually was reflected back to him in the mirror. The pair remained silent as they made their way back to the unlocked sedan.

"I'm going to put in a formal request for the CCTV footage of this place for the day of Sam's disappearance as soon as we get back to the precinct." Sakura had a tone to her of annoyance that was uncanny to Tsunade herself whenever he tiptoed her last nerve.

"We could do that while we're here. Could also grab..."

"If you even think about suggesting we grab a bite to eat here I will punch you. Understood?"

Kakashi raised his palms in submission.

"Wouldn't dream of it... "

He wanted to take the wheel, Sakura seemed to be agitated and he wasn't sure how that would correlate to her driving ability. At the same time he didn't want to say that out loud. Kakashi sat in the passengers seat, Sakura put the keys in the ignition but never started it. Instead she sat there silent and staring back at the gas station.

Acting on a hunch he asked the question. It was just fortunate for Kakashi that his hunches were usually correct.

"Sakura, you did well in there."

She scoffed.

"Did I? Doesn't feel like it..."

"What do you mean?"

She sighed deeply, not meeting his eye, but at least she answered.

"I don't like that guy, there's something about him that just rubs me the wrong way."

"Mizuki? Yeah, he's certainly got that kind of duplicitous personality on first impression."

"It's like he was laughing at me, he had to get that last word in. He's hiding something and I'm going to find it."

"Just remember, that intuition that's leading you toward Mizuki as the perp, don't let it blind you. By all means use it as fuel to solve the case but get all the facts first. You did do well because you got in his head. I gotta ask though, why bother getting him to sign the statement pad? We didn't need..."

And then she smiled and met his eye and in a flash all Kakashi could see was Obito with that same look on his face.

"While he was signing the pad I was getting a good look at his hands. There is a high probability that if he defleshed her body with dual instruments he would have cut himself."

"Find anything?"

"A couple of knicks and bruises. Something he could probably write off as a work related injury, I didn't realize he was more of a custodian than a counter jockey."

"He had a lot of tools laid out for us to see that's for sure... Wouldn't mind taking those back to Yamato."

"That'll be the next step right?"

"Well, the next step is food, whether you like it or not. You can't make clear decisions without proper sustenance."

"Okay, you're right. Maybe that's why I'm so agitated."

"This is what happens in investigations sometimes, trust me. It's a good thing, it means you're on to something. Just keep your wits about you. I think Mizuki is a creep, and I think he's underestimated you. All good things."

"Do you think he could be tied to the Kyuubi killer?"

"Too soon to tell Haruno, too soon. We need all the facts, we need to get the DNA back, we need evidence. Truth be told I'm trying not to get my hopes up on this one…" The admission was startling even to himself but he wanted Sakura to see all sides of being a detective. He wanted her to keep her wits about her. He couldn't let her rush ahead like Obito had once done.

"Either way we're going to solve this, Kakashi."

Her words of reassurance forced him to nod in agreement even though he wasn't so sure he believed it himself.

"Donburi?"

"That's a much better suggestion."

Kakashi gave her vague instructions as to where the good Donburi place was. Throughout the drive there he silently ruminated on the case and the possibilities that may arise from it. Could they really find him, the Kyuubi killer? He really didn't know, the only thing he was certain of was that Sakura was more like him than he had originally thought, and she wasn't going to stop until she got her man.

He had spent that morning telling Sakura to keep her cool, to keep her wits about her, but it had been more of a reminder to himself. Kakashi would need to keep a close eye on Sakura and on the case, he needed to be one step ahead.

They placed their orders in relative silence, unsurprising to Kakashi, Sakura ordered something obscenely healthy. He wondered just how many weeks on the job it would take for her to slip into the fast food and caffeinated life that he had been living as a detective.

"Do you want to head to Samantha Winters work place after this or go after Mizuki's mother?"

"We're near the work place, so we could make a visit on the way back to the precinct, I don't think that there's much there we can learn... but I guess it's worth a shot."

"Damn right it's worth a shot, you've got me on the case now remember?"

Kakashi smiled into his soda.

"I'm not sure if I like this competitive streak in you, but as long as we only use it as a tool for good and not evil we should be fine. I'll take any evidence you can get us."

_Us._

Kakashi wasn't sure why Obito had repeated the word in his mind, but it had sounded almost pleased.

"Did you just call me a tool?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, what would you prefer? Secret Weapon? Instrument of justice?"

"You're incorrigible, you know that?"

"So they tell me." Kakashi took a couple bites of his donburi, watching Sakura shuffle the mass amounts of vegetables around her bowl with chopsticks. "You gonna eat that or just poke at it?"

"Not everyone inhales their food as quickly as you do, Hatake. Have you ever heard of savoring a meal, hmm?"

"Why would you want to savor vegetables, that's not a meal, that's a meal for the animal that you make the meal out of..."

"What is it with you men and your meat, are you so un-evolved as a species that you've reverted to carnivores?"

"Gods you sound just like Tsunade sometimes it really creeps me out."

Silence, Kakashi quirked a brow towards Sakura and noted the ever so slight flushing of her cheeks, although she remained impassive in her expression. He was still curious as to what Sakura might be hiding from him, there was definitely something there, he would stake his career on it.

"Powerful women creep you out, huh? That's unfortunate. I'll remember that when I become Captain, it'll be good leverage."

"Ha ha, very funny Haruno." Kakashi swallowed down some more of his meal. "It's not so much powerful women as extremely determined women who verge on the psychotic... and are close to my physical person..."

"Ah huh, so you're _afraid _of women..."

_She's got you there Kashi._

"Now, now I happen to love all women, I'm only afraid of what they might do to me."

"Wow, someone fucked you over didn't they?"

_She's got you again Kashi, this is fun._

"You're so very sweary today, you know what I think it is? I think you aren't getting enough iron, you need to eat more meat..."

"Excuse me, I get enough iron in my diet, and I get it from the source thank you very much..."

Sakura continued to talk about the virtues of not eating meat and taking care of your body, but Kakashi was content in letting her talk, though he wasn't really listening. He liked the way she got so passionate about things so quickly, it was so very much like Obito, and again Obito had been right on the money. This _was _fun. This was the most fun he'd had on the job in a year, it reminded him exactly why he was in this job to begin with. Because he was good at it, because he was able to do good for others, it was his purpose.

He'd just forgotten all of it, he'd been too consumed, drowning in the aftermath of Obito's death.

"Kakashi!" Sakura said his name with such urgency that it shook him out of his thoughts.

"Huh?"

"Are you gonna get that? I can hear your phone buzzing in your pocket. Answer it, it could be about the case."

"Oh, yeah, right..."

He fumbled for the phone in his pocket while Sakura shook her head and narrowed his eyes, he fought the urge to smirk.

"Hatake..."

Tsunade's voice greeted him, but it wasn't the usual barrage of verbal assaults about his tardiness. This was something much, much more substantial, and it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand to attention. It made his very blood run with a charge of excitement.

The call was short and to the point, he didn't even say anything in reply, he didn't need to. Just swiped the call from his screen and placed the phone on the table. His eyes fixed on it.

"What's up?"

Slowly his gaze lifted from the phone screen and to his partner seated across from him, now her face was a mix of concern and impatience. If it weren't for the information he had just received he might have paused to decide which look he liked best on her features.

But there were bigger fish to fry, and Obito had gone silent again.

"We've got a match... The DNA's a match to Samantha Winters. We found her."


	7. Staking Out the Trash

Chapter Seven; Staking out the Trash

If Kakashi had said anything of importance while he drove them back to the precinct Sakura had not heard it. They'd left the donburi place immediately, an unsettling eagerness prompting them to get back to the station as soon as possible.

The day so far had inundated her with information left, right and center, and her shift was far from over. What she wouldn't give to be able to pause things for just a moment to collect her thoughts, but there was no pausing a murder investigation. If she could just maintain this pace then it would be okay, they could catch this guy, they could catch the Kyuubi killer.

She had doubts if it was the same perp who had killed Samantha Winters but there was still that indelible link between the cases. Sakura cast an eye over to her partner. He did well to hide the pain, and that was probably why he had come off as so standoffish from the outset, she really didn't hold it against him now. He'd lost his friend and partner and had been shouldering the blame on his own for a year.

For Sakura's thinking, Hatake was a good person, a good detective. She wasn't going to let him be consumed by grief and obsession any longer. She would help him solve this and in the process they would help so many other victims. Kakashi was wasted left to his own devices, picking through this serial case on his own, it was something she would need to bring up with Tsunade later. Why had she allowed this to happen?

She barely noticed that the car had stopped moving, it was probably just as well that she'd zoned out while Kakashi had been driving, he couldn't have been operating at any legal speed.

"First thing we do, put in the acquisition papers for the CCTV footage to confirm Mizuki's alibi, wouldn't mind getting a better look at the ME's findings as well..."

"Shouldn't we brief the Captain first?" Sakura wasn't sure why, but it felt necessary to speak to Tsunade about the connection to the Kyuubi killer.

"We can brief her after we've caught the bastard in a lie." Kakashi sounded heated as he punched the button in the elevator.

"Well, I can give her a quick rundown while you get the acquisition started, can you find that other footage from Obito's case too?"

"Oh, that's right, I almost forgot about that. Sure, no problem." The elevator began to move.. "This whole partnership thing is going to work perfectly if you're the one copping all of Tsunade's fury."

"Work perfectly for you, you mean."

"Of course, who else." Kakashi paused thoughtfully. "She isn't aware of the link to Obito's case, and I'm not sure how she'll handle it. She may insist on getting the Major Crimes Unit involved with a task force if there's even a mention of the Kyuubi killer."

"Does that mean the case gets taken off us?"

"It's a possibility."

Sakura felt the shudder of the elevator as she closed her eyes momentarily, the doors opened out to the bull pen and she sighed.

"Does that mean I shouldn't tell her about that receipt?"

Silence, neither of them had stepped out onto the floor.

"Sakura, I can't ask you to lie to the captain for me, this case is dangerous enough as it is."

"Then I'll ask her nicely to let us keep the case, and I'll tell her the truth."

Sakura brusquely stepped out onto the floor while Kakashi followed.

"First of all, there's no point asking her nicely for anything, she's gonna turn you down before you even get the sentence out. Second, exactly what truth are you going to tell her?"

"I'm going to tell her what Mizuki said and that the guys a creep, and I'm gonna tell her that the last person to see Obito alive was Samantha Winters. It could still just be a coincidence for all she..."

"Sakura, I'll tell you now. There are no coincidences during homicide investigations." Kakashi interrupted her with a sudden seriousness. "This could potentially be dangerous, and we're gonna need all the support we can get, I know that now... So fill her in with the truth and we'll get back to catching the bastard. With or without Major Crimes turning up, I... we have to be the ones to fix this."

A nod was exchanged between the two of them before they went in separate directions, Sakura heading for Tsunade's office, Kakashi straight to his desk. Knocking on the door first she cast a curious eye back to Hatake, he had dived head first into his work and for some unknown reason it was reassuring to see.

"Enter. Ah, Detective Haruno. Status report..." She gestured to the seat in front of her desk.

"Yes Ma'am. Hatake and I questioned both the mother of the victim and the boyfriend."

"We'll need to reach out to the mother again as soon as possible and let her know that we've found her daughter... part of her daughter anyway."

"Yes Ma'am I'll get right on that. Hatake is currently formally requesting the store footage to prove or disprove the boyfriends alibi for the day Winters went missing. His story hasn't changed but I trust the guy about as much as an unsupervised kid in a candy store."

"Trust your instincts Sakura, if he's dirty we'll find it, that's our job now." Tsunade leaned in her chair to the side, staring out the window of her door. "Well, something has lit a fire under Hatake's ass. Is this your doing? I haven't seen him work like this in a year."

Sakura liked to think she had her facial expressions under her control at all times, especially after working in a male dominated profession for so long. But there was no hiding anything from Aunt Tsunade.

"Well, there is something else I need to tell you. Kakashi thinks that this case might be connected... to Obito's."

There was a darkness that crossed the Captain's face, a turbulent mixture of sadness, shame, grief and shock.

"How so?"

"It appears that Samantha Winters was the last person to see Obito alive, going by the receipt that was left in his pocket. Kakashi's also bringing up the footage of that transaction for us to go through, it could be nothing, but it..."

"It could finally be a lead. Hn. No wonder he's been working so hard at this. It's nice to see him including you in the process too." Tsunade smiled sadly.

"We made a rule, we work on this case together 50/50 throughout, no solo work. No secrets..." Sakura looked over her shoulder now to observe the man himself, though all that could be seen was the outline of his shoulders and a few askew strands of silver hair.

"You have no idea how much it warms me to hear that... Truly. I was worried he would never come back to us properly."

There was silence.

"You aren't going to take the case away from us, right?"

Tsunade smiled.

"No, not this time. If it were just Hatake on his own then I wouldn't hesitate to give it over to Major Crimes. But I'm going to give you both the chance to prove your partnership. I have a feeling that with you on the case I won't have to worry about him so much."

"He is... a worry." Another pause. "Thank you, Ma'am, we won't let you down."

"I know you won't. Dismissed."

Sakura stood but couldn't bring herself to leave just yet, she had one more question that had drifted into her mind from nowhere tangible, and it needed answering.

"What was he like...before, before Obito died?"

There was a way that Tsunade sat back in her chair with a fond smile that made Sakura gain the notion that perhaps the captain didn't hate him as much as she lead people to believe.

"You wouldn't have recognized him Sakura. Hatake was the expert in all things, he traveled giving lectures to new recruits, speaking at trials, solving cases that no one else could. And you know what he did on his down time?"

"On the seventh day he rested?"

"Not quite, rest was the last thing Kakashi was capable of back in those days. In his free time he would collect things."

"What kind of things?"

"Everything. Building plans, herbs, wigs, books, logos, historical stuff. You name it, he added it all to his 'database' or whatever he called it. Hatake might not look or act like it much now, but that mind of his, when it's working in that zone... well it's something to behold."

"I would have liked to have seen it."

"You're in luck, Sakura. I think we're about to see Detective Kakashi Hatake make a big comeback. Now, don't let him show you up."

Kakashi didn't look away from his computer screen as she approached.

"How's it looking?" She asked when he appeared to be concentrating too hard to notice her on his own.

"Just typing the request now. I've sent that other footage to you through the server, so you should be able to bring it up now." It was here that Hatake finally glanced at her and then to Tsunade's door. "How did it go in there?"

"She's been briefed fully and wants us to continue working the case, so we're in the clear for now."

Sakura watched Kakashi's whole demeanor shift to something more comfortable.

"Well that's surprisingly good news."

"Why the tone of surprise? You didn't think I could pull it off?"

"I'm starting to wonder if there's anything you can't do..." It had been a backhanded compliment if anything, but it was so unexpected that it called upon all of Sakura's years of practise to train her face to impassiveness. It seemed Kakashi had fully intended the sentence to be heard though. Thankfully he continued. "I'll leave contacting the next of kin to you, I'm not sure Mrs. Winters wants to see or speak to me again anytime soon."

"True. I'll ring her directly and see if she's still in town."

"Next of kin notification is an unpleasant experience all round, do you want me to organize Detective Shiranui to ghost you?"

"No it's fine, I've got experience in this actually, from my last job."

"That's true, but remember this is murder not surgery. And even though the mother is ill, it doesn't rule her out as a suspect, she could still be involved. I know you'll be polite and sincere, but I want you to trust me, and follow those instincts you were born with. Take note of every word she says, how she sounds, how she reacts."

Sakura nodded. The vote of confidence from Kakashi boosted her in a way she couldn't quite describe, the only reference she could compare it to was when surgery began and that clock started. In the words of her Captain, it had lit a fire under her ass.

First things first, Sakura left a message with Mrs. Winters to get back to her as soon as possible. Kakashi submitted the request then rang the Captain, rather than leaving his chair, she rolled her eyes at first and then had to laugh when Tsunade came out looking like a puffed up chicken.

"Hatake, I swear one of these days I will kick your ass so hard you won't be able to sit and then you'll have to get up off that chair. What did you want me to sign?"

"The press is already speculating as to the identity of the vic and I don't want to tip off the perp that we're onto him just yet."

"Oh, so you're going for an injunction, good move Hatake, next time come to my goddamn office."

"If we can get a 24 hour ban on the media it will give us a head start." Sakura chimed in from her spot.

"There was evidence of disarticulation on the skull, the spinal cord was severed postmortem by someone who knew what they were doing and with strength. If I were to profile them I'd say they were on the higher end of the IQ scale, so we don't want any tip offs."

"I'm going to try and contact Mizuki's mother, if what Mrs. Winters said holds any stock then the woman knows something that she isn't telling us."

"Good plan, Haruno." Kakashi typed as he spoke. "While you do that I'll run a basic background check on the boyfriend and see if he's hiding anything. I'm not sure we've got enough probable cause to get a warrant for financial records, it would take a couple days to process too..."

Sakura had almost forgotten that Tsunade was standing beside them, the back and forth with Kakashi had given her tunnel vision. When the captain spoke she almost startled.

"If you're leaving out the details that the victim was connected to an ongoing serial case then you probably don't have probable cause enough to convince a judge. And the second that you mention that connection, on the record, I can't guarantee that the case will stay in this precinct." She paused thoughtfully with a hand to her chin. "Follow the leads, search the victim's residence, question the mother of the boyfriend, we'll have a briefing in the morning and go from there."

"Yes Ma'am." Both Kakashi and Sakura answered in unison, they exchanged an amused look that went unnoticed by Tsunade as she walked away.

"It might be worth canvassing the woodland areas around the boyfriend's home and place of work with cadaver dogs. See if we can find the rest of her or a crime scene."

"There's no way we can get that done today. How much area can we cover just the two of us?"

"No need, we can submit an order for the crime scene unit to sweep the area while we get the bulk of this busy work behind us. You want me to show you how to put the order through?"

"Yeah, that would be great, thanks."

Kakashi wheeled his chair to Sakura's desk and for the next two hours they were both enveloped by tunnel vision. All that existed was the case, the screen they were working off and the smell of stale coffee. The correct procedures were all familiar enough from basic training, but seeing how that process actually worked was a benefit to Sakura. She usually only needed to see something once to have it memorized, a skill that had served her well as a surgeon.

Finding Mizuki's mother however was like trying to catch a fart in the wind. Mrs. Hana Tsubaki was visible on social media but there was no contact details. The number listed was no longer in service, Sakura figured the only way to get to her would be through Mizuki himself or Mrs. Winters. While her and Kakashi still stared at the security footage they had of Obito's interaction with Samantha, for the upteenth time, Sakura's mind was finally bored and settled enough to make a connection.

"Do we have the phone records for Samantha somewhere?"

"If they aren't in the file I'm sure we could bring them up on screen..."

Kakashi leant over and tapped a few quick strokes into the keyboard, in doing so, he brushed past Sakura, this was the first time she noticed the broad and taut muscles along his shoulders. She also caught a whiff of something pleasant like aftershave.

"Print it out, I want to compare it to Mizuki's mother's last known number, or see if I can track down a way to get in touch with her."

"Good thinking, Haruno."

"Has that background check come up with anything?"

Kakashi spun his chair back around to his own desk, looking at the screen intently before wheeling himself back to Sakura's desk. There was an empty station next to his desk, it would be a lot easier if she were to shift there... but she had a sinking feeling that it was empty for a reason. That had been Obito's desk and she could never take his place.

"Nothing substantial, no priors and no record. I'd like to get a look in this guys apartment, I doubt he'll be dumb enough, but he might just let us in willingly to take a look around. It's worth a shot..."

Sakura had been listening, but she wasn't giving her undivided attention. Something was off with the numbers she was looking at on the freshly printed piece of paper. There was a tension rising in the back of her neck and she couldn't place why, it was both infuriating and concerning at the same time.

When she finally looked up from the sheet of paper Kakashi was back at the side of her desk, watching her intently.

"What have you found?"

"I... don't know, what makes you think I've found anything to begin with?"

"You got that look about you. What do you mean, you don't know?"

Sakura sighed before handing him the piece of paper.

"Tell me what I'm not seeing." Usually it would have hurt her ego to have to ask anyone for help with anything work related, let alone Hatake. But the need to catch this bastard outweighed the temporary discomfort. "Samantha called her mother religiously during all her breaks and after her shift, you can see it happening every day right up until the 15th, the day she went missing, and all outgoing calls stop."

"That gels with the ME's estimated time of death." Kakashi's eyes darted over the paper for a moment and then she could see something in his eye, it wasn't a sparkle of recognition per-say, it was more like the life had returned to them. "After the 15th there are two numbers that still try to call her, I recognize one as the mothers, I'm unsure of the other but it has the area code for where Samantha's skull was found. What's more interesting is the number that she calls alongside her mother each day. The one that calls her late almost every night of the week for a month and then stops on the 15th."

She snatched it back off him.

"So I should be looking at the number that stops calling..."

"They knew that no one would pick up, so they stopped calling. We need to know who that number belongs to, we should probably follow up on the other number as well. It could be work, or it could be..."

"Mizuki's mother."

"Precisely."

Sakura narrowed her eyes toward Kakashi.

"I'll take one, you take the other, 50/50 remember?"

"Fine." He said almost quizzically. "Which one do you want?" There was something laced in his tone that was cautiously concerned.

She paused for just a moment considering which number she preferred to call. It was petty to think that she still had something to prove, but she didn't want to look stupid either, she wanted to be useful, she wanted to be the one to make a break in this case.

"I'll take..."

"Too late. I'm taking this one, you take the other."

"What..." her mouth dropped, Kakashi was already wheeling back to his desk and picking up the receiver. "What the hell Kakashi?"

"You took too long, Haruno. I'm dialing the number that stops calling her after the 15th, you take the other."

It really was too late to argue because he was hitting the numbers already. Sakura could protest that there was no need to call them, they could simply look up the numbers in the system or call the phone companies. But there was a kind of urgency to this case, they didn't need to wait any longer and the quickest way to an answer was to call. There would be plenty of time later to do follow up procedure. The looming paperwork causing her more anxiety as she picked up her own phone. She could've waited for Kakashi to finish, but there was that ever niggling sense of rivalry that lingered and wanted to best him still.

The second the phone began to ring on the other end Sakura had to shake herself back into seriousness. A woman answered with a gruff voice.

"Yeah?"

"Hello, this is Detective Sakura Haruno. May I ask with whom I'm speaking?"

"You're not a very good detective then, huh, don't even know who you're calling..." There was the sound of an exhale directly into the speaker, Sakura guessed they were a smoker whoever they were. "This is Hana Tsubaki. You're calling about Sam I take it. Found her yet?"

Sakura darted her eyes over to Kakashi but she didn't really take him in, it was more of an immediate response out of shock.

"Not... not exactly." Sakura stammered, remembering that they didn't want to tip anyone off just yet, and the next of kin was still unaware of the DNA match. It wouldn't be right to reveal that information to a third party just yet. "I understand from Mrs. Winters that it was at your behest she fill in the missing persons report originally?"

"Hell yeah it was me that told her to. Fat lot of good it did for Sam. There won't be much left of her to find by now."

The statement made Sakura's blood run cold, she'd been submerged into the freezing deep end. Her eyes opened wide and she did her best to remain calm as she signaled to Kakashi with her other hand. He didn't hesitate to hand up his own phone immediately, with a nod he dialed another number and put a finger to his mouth. He was listening in to the conversation, and that solidified her resolve.

"You sound pretty sure of that statement Ms. Tsubaki. What makes you think there won't be anything left for us to find?" Sakura hastily grabbed for a pen and notepad to be sure she took down every detail, _she couldn't miss anything._

"You don't know who you're dealing with here girly. He's had too much time to clean up, he'll be more than one step ahead. He's smarter than you think."

"And just who are we talking about, Ms. Tsubaki?"

"Wow, you really are a shit detective if you can't work that out. I'm talking about my son of course. But you knew that, didn't you? You trying to get me to say it on the record, well that's as close as you'll get. I'm not coming in to your damned station either."

"And why won't you come to us?"

"You want me to hand over my only son on a silver platter and I won't... I can't do it. Even if I wanted to, detective. Family doesn't do that."

"Then why go out of your way to drive Mrs. Winters all the way to the police station to get her to fill out the report? Why bother giving us any information at all, Hana?"

There was a silent pause, Sakura wondered if she had said the wrong thing, but after another long drawl of a cigarette the woman finally answered.

"I liked Sam, she was a good girl, good to her Mom. I thought she would be the one to change that boy for the better. Especially with the baby coming..."

Sakura felt her jaw drop, she turned to Kakashi, he made a gesture with his hand quickly.

_Keep going, keep her talking._

"Sam was pregnant?"

"Yeah, she wasn't far along, but hell we were excited. I thought it would be enough for Mizuki... well enough for him not to hurt her anymore. Sam and I were thick as thieves, think we were the only ones that could love that son of a..."

She could hear the emotion in the woman's voice, feel the brevity of her words and the pain that it was causing her. This was her chance, she held the power in her hand here to break the case wide open, she just needed to say the right thing.

"I'm so sorry, Ms. Tsubaki, I can't imagine the position you're in right now. But if you truly cared for Sam, and you want us to find her, find what happened to her, I need to know what happened on the 15th..."

"I don't want to know one bit of the details of what happened to her, I know what happened to her. Mizuki happened. The pair of them were meant to come over that day and never showed, never picked up, and I knew. I knew he'd gone too far this time."

"How can you be so sure?"

"It's not my place to say... there was always something wrong with that boy. He had the devil in him the second he was born, and I would know, I'm his mother."

Sakura decided to adopt another tactic, not wanting to test the anger that she could hear in Hana's voice, not wanting to leave the conversation here. There was too much on the line for it to be left here.

"Thank you, for everything Ms. Tsubaki, I know what a difficult position you're in and appreciate you taking the time out to talk with me. If I may ask just one more question... Where do _you _think we'd find Sam?"

Silence.

"I know you won't find a trace of her in that apartment of his."

Sakura felt her chest heavy, sensing that Hana had one foot out the door, ready to hang up at any second. She'd already given away more than she had intended, and all mother's feel that instinct to protect their sons. That was when inspiration struck.

"Thank you again, Ms. Tsubaki. If it turns out that Mizuki is in any way involved, I won't let him know we've spoken to you, and I promise I'll get him any help that he may need..."

Silence.

"I said she won't be in the apartment. But you should check out that storage locker of his. 28 Mains Avenue, locker 301. Good day, detective, I hope you live up to your promise."

Dial tone.

Sakura fought with the urge to slam the phone down, bolt straight for the door and run non stop until she reached that storage locker. She glanced over to Kakashi, wide eyes betraying her thoughts in lieu of replying he simply held up a finger as he hung up his own phone. A day previous she wouldn't have appreciated the gesture but today it served to calm her in an odd way. Kakashi was already standing, adjusting the belt on his hip and checking over his weapon, Sakura stood and did the same.

Thankfully, common sense returned just as swiftly as it had abandoned her.

"Is there any point heading straight over there without a warrant? We won't be able to enter the storage unit without an MR24 with the judge's seal…"

"We don't have to enter that locker, we can just go and get a good look around the facility, see what we can turn up. We do exactly what we did in that gas station."

"Right." It only took a second for her to catch on, they would ask around a bit, take a look around. Maybe they would get lucky and there would be surveillance cameras. "If we go fast enough we might be able to make it there before five, there might be a clerk we could talk to…"

"My thinking exactly, we'll have to use the sirens on the main highway…" Kakashi had stopped mid sentence and mid stride colliding with Sakura's outstretched hand. "What…."

"There is _no way _I am willing to be subjected to your high speed siren driving today, besides, it's my turn."

"But… you do realize we need to be there _quickly."_

"No arguments, it's my turn and I took all the same defensive drivers training courses in the academy as you did and more recently, I might add…"

The argument took place as they both readied themselves and left, by the time they reached the elevator Sakura had expected Kakashi to continue his protest. When the doors closed he grinned and held the keys up for her to take. The look on his face was so unexpected that she attributed it as the cause of the heat that rushed to her cheeks. She also realized in an instant why he'd disputed so loudly on the way out, he was just keeping up appearances. That heat morphed into the fires of anger and she barely resisted the urge to wipe the smile off his face.

Why did men have to be so infuriating one hundred percent of the time?

It didn't matter, she would have ample time to make an example of him in the bullpen later, and right now she needed to concentrate. They needed to have their heads and wits about them if they were going to walk into the den of the monster… so to speak, innocent until proven guilty and all that…

_He may not be guilty but he is definitely hiding something, let's go see what that is…_

The thought solidified her reasoning as she got behind the wheel. From the glove box Kakashi withdrew what looked like a small keyboard.

"What the hell is…." She started the car and her question was answered. "Wow, this rust bucket has built in sirens, huh?"

"Hey, this rust bucket was top of the line back in it's day... I don't know why I thought that would help win the argument, let's just get moving."

Precision driving had never been her favorite subject in her training days, but on the road with her partner besider her, it caused a surge of adrenaline that she hadn't anticipated. A rush of a long forgotten feeling of excitement and contentment in what she was doing with her life, they were following the leads together… they were going to catch a killer. She was going to make a difference.

She had become a doctor, become a surgeon, to save people. But she was sick of being at the bottom line when she belonged to be at the front, a first line of defense, a police officer.

The conversation on the road was short but Sakura was too busy concentrating on weaving her way through traffic to pay much attention to Kakashi. Occasionally he would go so far as to point within her line of vision to a faster route, and she found herself following his direction without question. Later on she would wonder if it was only because of that adrenaline in her system that she obeyed him so obsequiously. The storage facility was well marked as they came off the highway ramp, the mass of intimidating buildings with rows upon rows of red doors was hard to miss. Sakura decided on the main entrance but with such a mass expanse of storage units she noted that there were other exits and entrances along further.

"A place this size has to have security cameras." Kakashi spoke, already peering out the windows of the car to get a better look around.

"You'd think so. Any signs for an office?"

"Around the side there, park up."

Again no banter or arguments, this was serious business, Sakura took a second to check her weapon, badge, phone, torch. She even made a point of locking the car this time, Kakashi nodded in seeming approval. They rounded the side of the building, along the wide path and fifty metres ahead was the sign for the office.

The multi story facility was so large Sakura likened it to a hospital for size. Then her mind went to the logistical side of things as it usually did, how many cops it would take to swarm such a building, how easy it would be to lose a perp in the myriad of corridors that lay within and above them. When she glanced quickly to Kakashi she wondered if he was thinking along the same lines as her, his eyes were narrowed as if he were concentrating, one hand resting beneath his jacket and on his weapon.

Maybe he was just as nervous as she was. There was no time for Sakura to do what she usually did best, comfort and care, she wasn't even certain if that's what he needed. But it was too late now, they were here.

The 'office' was little more than a storage unit fitted with a desk, a computer and stacks of filing cabinets. And of course, one very disgruntled employee who had the keys to the lock up in her hand and her purse over her shoulder.

"I was just heading out for the day, if you want a locker you can apply tomorrow or take the paperwork with you…."

"Oh, we're not here to rent a locker ma'am." Kakashi smoothly interjected, shifting his jacket to display the badge on his belt. "I'm Detective Hatake, this here is Detective Haruno. Would you mind answering a few questions for me? I'll only take a moment of your time…"

Sakura fought the urge to roll her eyes, he was laying it on so thickly it made her sick. The clerk was of short stature, she dropped the bag of her shoulders with a side smile. It was proof anyway that Kakashi could be charming when the person they were questioning was attractive.

"Sure, I guess I got the time."

She sashayed back to her desk chair and dropped herself into it.

"Sorry, I never asked your name…"

"Call me Frankie. So what did you want to know? Which perv will it be about today, hmm? " She met Sakura's eye and put a hand to her mouth as if to share a secret with her. "Most of the men that walk in here tend to be pervs, one way or another…"

Sakura fought back the urge to giggle but the snide grin could not be contained. Kakashi cleared his throat.

"Okay, good to know. First things first, this place got any CCTV cameras?"

"Yup, located at all entrances and exits, and one aimed down each hallway. It's all monitored by our alarm company, Armorguard, so no, I can't give you access to it sorry."

"Are you able to tell us anything about the perv who's rented 301? His name is Mizuki Tsubaki." Sakura decided to take over the conversation for the moment, sensing Kakashi's impatience.

"Sure, just give me a sec." She spent a minute typing furiously, having to log herself back in to several forums to bring up any information. In the meantime Frankie popped a strange looking kind of lollipop into her mouth, her desk seemingly covered in them. Kakashi raised a brow and the look on his face make Sakura actually roll her eyes. "301, what did you want to know?"

"Anything, when the unit was rented, how he paid for it, anything you can give us will help."

"Sure. As long as you're not asking me to unlock it for you. You want me to email all this to you? We scan the forms with the signatures into the system along with the ID they used when opening the account to make sure it matches."

Kakashi and Sakura exchanged glances.

"Yeah… that would be really helpful, thank you."

"You're welcome, Detective Hatake." She held out her hand and Kakashi looked at her perplexed. "Well, you gonna give me your card or what? I'm not telepathic, I'll need an email address to send it to."

"Oh, right." Kakashi pulled a card from his wallet, his face a mixture of bemusement and irritation. "My number is on there, give me a call if anything new pops up."

"Only if you say please." Frankie appeared serious for the second, but a grin gave away her mischief. "Just kidding. No problem."

With both his eyebrows raised Kakashi offered a curt nod before turning on his heels and heading outside. Sakura offered a few pleasantries to the clerk before following after him, he paused at the corner of the building.

"I want to drive around to Mizuki's lock up and scope out the exit closest to it."

"Good idea." Sakura threw him the keys as she spoke, he caught them without looking, his eyes were preoccupied in darting around the empty parking lot. "You.. feeling alright?"

Sakura wasn't sure what had prompted her to ask the question, it could have been the way he was acting or it could be the strange feeling she hadn't been able to name rising within herself.

"Physically, yes." His tone was deadpan as if she had just said something monumentally stupid, with a sigh he admitted defeat with a proper answer to the question. "The rest of it, well I can't really say. This place makes me very nervous and I'm not sure why."

"It could just be the anticlimax of it all." Kakashi finally looked her in the eye at her words as if to prompt explanation. "Well, look at it this way, we rushed all the way here, siren's blazing. Only to be told that we'll need to contact another security company and the information will be emailed to us. It could have been done with a phone call really."

"That's true." Kakashi unlocked the car. "Don't discount old school detective work though, Haruno, doing the footwork could become our advantage later."

"That's also true. And we made a new friend. I like Frankie, she's got gumption…"

Kakashi tried to disguise the smile on his face by turning his head as he opened the car door, but Sakura had caught it nonetheless. While he made a show of adjusting the seat back to fit his legs, she put a lot of emphasis on buckling her seat belt and making sure it was secure.

"This place is like a maze…" He mumbled as he reversed. "Maybe that's why I'm on edge. It's a tactical nightmare."

"Tsunade would have a fit if we had to storm the place."

"You know it surprises me how well you know her character when you've only been with us for a few days…."

"What of it? Maybe I'm just better at reading people than you think…"

"Hmm, very suspicious… You're right though, she would have a fit and potentially disembowell me. I've just got this… feeling that we're missing something here and it's not going away."

"You were the one telling me to follow my instincts, now you need to follow your own advice Kakashi. If there's something here that's bugging you we should stay and check it out. As long as we're not breaking and entering into the storage unit we're not breaking any rules... "

"You're right. You don't mind poking around a bit? It's getting dark."

"I'm a big girl, Hatake. I don't need you to hold my hand because it's dark… Pull over up here."

There were large signs attached to each block of buildings with the corresponding units on them for that row. Kakashi parked the car in a block that had the numbers '300-349' along the side, they had a view of the dumpster and not much else. As Sakura was undoing her seat belt she heard the buzz of Kakashi's phone from his pocket.

"Hatake." He answered with no emotion, but his eyes grew wide before they narrowed again and Sakura could hear why. The car was quiet enough for her to hear the other end of the conversation.

"Hi, it's me, Frankie. You told me to call if anything new came up, and you'll never believe it, perv 301 waltzed in here a minute after you left and asked for the account closure forms. He's going to empty out his locker right now."

Sakura felt her blood run cold, Mizuki knew they were on to him.

"Thanks for the heads up."

Kakashi hung the phone up without any more ceremony and began scrolling through his contacts.

"_Kakashi, get down." _Sakura hissed, pulling on his shoulder and ducking down in the passenger's seat. Mizuki himself wondering into view just as Kakashi's unruly hair ducked below the dash.

"I'm messaging for backup."

"There's no time Kakashi, he could be about to destroy evidence, we need to get in there now!"

"It's too dangerous, we need backup."

"There's two of us and one of him. And we're armed…"

"That means nothing, Haruno, we could be dealing with the Kyuubi Killer here you realize, it's not safe…"

"Fuck that Kakashi, he just opened the dumpster lid, we need to _move!"_

"There's no reason to rush in there guns blazing, anything he throws into that garbage becomes ours for the taking as evidence…"

Sakura peered up cautiously to see Mizuki crouch down to unlock the locker door before rolling it up.

"So you're saying we just watch him throw out stuff and wait for backup?"

Kakashi sighed in what appeared to be relief.

"Yes. Consider it your first stake out as a detective, sometimes you gotta wait these things out, don't ever go rushing in without a plan, Sakura."

She huffed in begrudging acceptance.

"Alright, fine. You think he can see us though? We are pretty much parked in front of him."

"Lucky it's getting dark then. Look, he's in the unit, we have time to move to the backseat which will offer us more cover."

"Oh god."

"What? It'll be fine, just hurry up…"

"No, I just shudder to think what you might have in that backseat and I don't want it touching me… Christ, we better move, I can burn this outfit later…"

"Hey, it's not _that _bad."

"Why is there so much food back here?"

"For situations just like this, doughnut?" Kakashi held out a box and Sakura didn't even look at the contents, afraid of what she might see.

"No, thanks. Have you got eyes on Mizuki?"

"He's still inside that unit, for now. Can you see the door?"

"I can… Oh, I meant to ask, that other number that you rang back at the precinct. Who was it?"

"Oh, right, it was a caller service for the bank. Basically Sam was playing phone tag with her provider, sending a text message for them to call her."

"So a dead end?"

"Yup. You got the better end of the deal."

"That's what happens when you rush in and take whatever you want first, karma bitch."

"Did you just call me a bit-"

"_Shhh." _Sakura shushed him to silence and then felt her whole body freeze. "Kakashi, we really need to _move now-_"

"We talked about this Haruno, there's no reason to rush…"

"He's just put a tank of gasoline next to that dumpster Kakashi, he's going to destroy whatever's in it, _we need to move now-" _She reached for her weapon, pulling the gun from the holster and reaching for the handle to the car.

She startled when the firm grip of Kakashi's hand around her wrist stopped her. It was like a vice, and he'd shifted so close they were face to face.

"No, Sakura. It's too… dangerous ..."

She could see the iris of his eyes, wide and startled. She could see everything being this close to him. She could see the fear, hear it in the tremble of his voice.

Kakashi had already lost a partner in the line of duty and he wasn't ready to lose another one.

"Kakashi, trust me, we're going in together, right?" She hoped she'd added a softness to her tone that was usually absent in high pressure situations. Sakura watched as he studied her eyes, she watched that fear ebb away ever so slightly, she felt him release her wrist with a reluctant nod. "It's going to be okay. Let's go take out this piece of trash…"

The unintended play on words is what broke him, finally. The last of that apprehension evaporated with the slightest of smiles. Kakashi reached for the weapon at his hip.

"Alright, alright. I'll take the lead, got it?"

"Are you sure…."

"Sakura, move fast! He's pouring the gas ..."

The pair of them fell out of the vehicle with less grace than she would have liked, but just as quickly they were on their feet, guns pointed at Mizuki Tsubaki.

"Hands up, Mizuki! Drop the gasoline…"

The surprise from the suspect was palpable as they rounded on him. He made a last ditch attempt to charm his way out of the situation.

"I was just throwing out this expired stock… No reason to pull out the guns, guys."

"How stupid do you think we are Mizuki? Gasoline doesn't expire…"

"Who said it was…"

"We can smell it, and we got you red handed attempting to destroy public property, so keep your hands in the air…" Sakura spat the words at him, no longer attempting to hold back. Mizuki's eyes darted around as if looking for the best route to make a run for it, but Kakashi was quicker, the cuffs were out and on him faster than Sakura could blink.

"Mizuki Tsubaki, you have the right to remain silent…."


	8. Chapter 8

Later on Kakashi wouldn't be able to work out just how he had managed to get back behind the wheel of that sedan and drive them all the way back to the precinct without crashing. The second Mizuki had been locked carefully in the interrogation room Detective Hatake found himself in the men's bathroom, desperately splashing water on his face and trying to calm his shaking hands. His weapon now safely in the holster on his hip, but it felt heavy, hot and foreign.

Kakashi Hatake had long forgotten what things were really like in the field. That sickly come down from the momentary adrenaline and panic had lodged itself firmly in the pit of his stomach. It was such a turbulent feeling that he was glad he'd skipped on lunch. There was only one word that came to mind as he stared at his reflection in the mirror. Pathetic. He was a pathetic mess, attempting to be a detective when the only thing he was good for without Obito at his side was paranoia.

The second he had seen Sakura's determination and readiness to act he'd found himself in a kind of waking sleep paralysis. He knew what his body should be doing, he knew that she was making the right call, he'd just been unable to bring himself to move properly. His brain unwilling to offer any coherent explanation as to it's sudden halt of all rational thinking.

Something within Kakashi had changed, something nameless had shifted, and it began with the absence of Obito and the sound of Sakura's voice filling that void. It was the only reason he was finally pushed to move out of that car.

The day had been a veritable roller coaster of emotion, and it wasn't over yet.

There was a knock on the men's bathroom door.

"Kakashi? Are you alright? We need to question Mizuki before he lawyer's up…"

Once again it was Sakura's voice bringing him back from the depths, reminding him that he was a detective, and there was work to be done.

"Yeah…" he found his voice, "just give me another minute."

The detective in him was torn, wanting to wait to see what forensics found first in that locker but also wanting the chance to question Mizuki alone. The second that the public defender turned up his mouth would shut tighter than a vault, and that was only assuming that he couldn't afford a lawyer himself on a gas station attendant's salary. In a whole year he had never been so close to a potential lead for Obito's case, there had never been this much hope and tension riding on one round of questioning.

He needed to keep his head on straight and without Obito as his voice of reason chiming in, he would need to rely on his partner. Sakura would probably have him committed to an asylum if she knew what was really going through his head.

Kakashi was fighting every day just to keep his memories of Obito indelibly etched in his mind. The sound of his voice, always cheerful in the morning regardless of the time, the spark of infectious joy when he'd solved a particularly hard case on his own. They were all things Kakashi wanted to keep alive, he didn't want to forget any of it, but the more he tried to hold onto them the more they faded like a dream.

He didn't want those memories of Obito to leave him. Kakashi could only claim a small stockpile of happy memories in his lifetime, and the majority of those held Obito. Without them, without Obito, what did he have? Nothing but miserable…

"Kakashi! It's been five minutes, this is why I told you to steer clear of fast food…"

Sakura interrupted his reverie just in time to stop the spiral into darkness.

There was a job that needed to be done, she was reminding him. In doing his job to the best of his ability, surely that kept the memory of Obito alive just a little… for now it was all he could do to hope for such a thing.

"Yeah, yeah, I heard you… The whole precinct can hear you." Kakashi shook his head before heading to the door, Sakura was waiting for him with her arms folded, leaning against the wall.

"Well your hearing isn't what it used to be, old man, better to keep the decibel level high…"

"You're awful, you know that?"

"Awful nice to look at? Yes, I'm aware."

"Ha ha, very funny. Have you made yourself useful and briefed Tsunade on the situation?"

"Well, yeah. As soon as we got in. Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, why?"

"It's just that I already told you that I was briefing the Captain..."

"Maybe I just didn't hear you, seeing as I'm so old... Anyway, what's our plan with Mizuki? We should probably go into this with a joint strategy. 50/50, remember?"

At this Sakura's stoic expression finally broke into a semblance of a smile.

"Well, while you were powdering your nose, the uniformed officers handed over to us the bag that Mizuki threw in the dumpster and tried to burn. Want to check that out first? See what he was trying to get rid of?"

"Sounds like a great start. After you."

They discussed briefly whether or not opening the bag directly in front of Mizuki would be a good idea. Kakashi had never had someone question his methods so much in his entire career, but Sakura liked to push those buttons. It was a good thing, for a detective anyway, it was certainly keeping him hyper aware of the case at hand and how best to deal with it.

Sakura had a different way of thinking about things, and that directly clashed with the stubborn old school gumshoe strategies that Kakashi had developed. But he was nothing if not resourceful, he would adapt and keep an eye on her at the same time.

The evidence was signed over to them at the field office of the precinct. Kakashi made a point to do things by the book for Sakura's benefit and he could tell that she was taking in every detail. Both of them donned the appropriate gloves before handling the bag which was left for them on a sterile table. On the outside it appeared to be an ordinary black duffel bag with a strong smell of gasoline coming from it. The outer layers protected whatever was inside the bag from being contaminated, but Kakashi was nevertheless eager to get the contents examined thoroughly and quickly to be sure.

Whatever was in here, Mizuki hadn't wanted anyone to find it, and he was willing to burn down the whole storage facility just to be certain. Kakashi opened it with trepidation, not wanting to destroy anything that may be crucial to the investigation. This job might have been better suited to the forensic technicians, and on a normal day that's exactly who he would have deferred to, but time was of the essence. They could only hold Mizuki for 24 hours, and if he lawyered up quickly then the chances of any kind of information were slim.

Each item was carefully placed on the table. First to come out was a blue notebook, so thick that it wasn't closing neatly, all the pages had been thoroughly used. On its cover were drawings and symbols, it looked to Kakashi like the album artwork for some heavy metal band.

Sakura and Kakashi exchanged a glance, she nodded and carefully handled the pages. While he went back to the contents of the bag he felt that something heavy and foreboding awaited them in the pages of that notebook. Even with a rookie detective as his partner Kakashi wasn't worried about Sakura working with evidence, something was telling him that she was probably more efficient in that area than he was.

Next out of the bag were a pair of shoes, men's sneakers, nothing remarkable about them for the moment but there would be trace evidence there that he couldn't see. A pair of slacks. Another smaller notebook with some dates on the cover. Receipts, snack wrappers.

The heaviest thing in the bag appeared to be a smaller bag, Kakashi was surprised by the weight of it as he picked it up.

"Jesus Christ..." Sakura whispered.

"What is it?"

"There is some... seriously morbid stuff in here."

"What are we talking, anything about dismembering a body?"

Sakura was silent again as she skimmed the pages so Kakashi continued with his work, putting the heavy object on the table. It landed with a thunk, and in the light it was easier to see that it wasn't a bag at all, but a rolled piece of fabric that was tied around the middle with leather strips. Sakura glanced up from the book in her hand.

"That looks like a hunting set..." She spoke quietly, her eyes wide as they went back to reading.

"It's pretty heavy...:" Kakashi scanned upward to regard his partner, she seemed okay for the most part but he was growing ever more concerned at her shift in behavior. She was being agreeable and that prickled worry within him. "You gonna share what you've found in there?"

"I would if it made any sense." Sakura grumbled before clearing her throat. "A lot of pentagrams and crude sketches of naked men and women. The passages read like poetry but it's... morbid, all of it. Feels more of a manifesto, we'll need a psychiatrist to go over this one..."

"We don't have a psychiatrist just lying around the precinct, Dr. Haruno, you'll have to do for now, so take a shot at it before the public defender gets here."

"What strikes me most is the repeated scribbling of a poem by the name of Lady Lazarus..."

"Never heard of it."

"Of course you've never heard of it you uncultured swine..." Sakura didn't seem to notice the insult that had slipped past her lips until Kakashi was staring at her fully with accusing eyes. "Would you like me to lecture you about the fine arts Kakashi or will a summary suffice?"

He rolled his eyes.

"Haruno, I'll have you know that I've read my fair share of... why am I even arguing. Just explain it, we don't have time."

She smiled.

"Right, well Lady Lazarus is narrated by a woman who is about to die, it could be read as suicide but it's not exactly clear. In the poem she is certain that her flesh will soon be restored to her face after having been sacrificed to the grave, and then she will be able to smile again."

"That sounds... interesting."

"It sounds morbid. And considering the only piece of our victim is a defleshed skull I think it's pertinent..."

Kakashi glanced at the book himself.

"There's all sorts of satanic symbolism there, and this poem is what strikes you the most?" He tried not to sound dismissive, he knew better than most that hunches came of their own accord at times and without explanation.

"It's the words, Hatake. _Dying is an art, like everything else. I do it exceptionally well."_

There was a pause of brevity while they gathered their thoughts, Sakura continued to read.

"Well, what you have in your hands there is probable cause to get a search warrant of Mizuki's apartment." Kakashi answered Sakura's furrowed brow of confusion. "It's incriminating as hell, Haruno. Your opinion as a detective is also worth more than some second rate psychiatrist. We'll still need forensics to dust it for prints..."

"But, why? We caught him red handed throwing it out..."

"He could still claim that it isn't his, and he probably will, I'll pull out the stops for a handwriting analysis as soon as we have time."

Sakura sighed.

"Well, what have you found."

"I'm not sure..." Kakashi said while turning his attention back to the table, reverently he untied the srips that were around the bundle of fabric before rolling it out flat. With each inch it unfurled a new and disturbing gleaming silver object appeared in front of them, all bearing their teeth. "Fluting knife, peeling knife, boning knife... Serrated utility knife..." He named them as each one presented itself until there was no more fabric to roll out.

In all there were 8 very worn knives laying in front of them.

"Well... I think that's a cut above probable cause, don't you?" Sakura sounded breathless, her eyes still wide.

Kakashi fought the urge to audibly groan at the pun, she had to have said it intentionally, the groan was more that she had beaten him to the obvious punch.

"You just suck all the fun out of this..."

"Pardon?"

"Nothing, nothing. We need to get these swabbed as soon as possible and then get a better look at that storage unit. It was certainly nice of him to bag all this evidence for us so neatly... but it's nothing if we can't tie it to Samantha."

"Is there anything else in here?" Sakura tentatively opened the duffel bag and peered inside.

"Don't think so, check the pockets..."

Something was pulling his attention away from the knives in front of him. The smaller notebook with the dates scrawled across the cover, it was well used but not in the haphazard scrawling state like the other book. Kakashi casually flipped through the pages and he knew what he was looking at in an instant.

"These look like surveillance notes, dates, times and locations. What do you think?" He turned it so that Sakura could see the open pages.

"Yeah... they do. So he was stalking Sam?"

"Might not be Sam that he was watching."

There was something about this little book that made Kakashi feel a prickling sensation at the back of his neck. He scanned his mind for anything familiar that might be obscured by looking too closely, unable to see the forest for the trees. Once upon a time he'd have been able to block out all other noise and pull up the relevant images in his mind, he'd been able to do that in an instant, and with exact precision. But in those days he'd also been able to go into the field without having a panic attack.

Focus, _focus. _There's something here. Something that needs to be found. Trust yourself, trust that instinct as a detective. It's what you told Sakura to do. It's what Obito would have done.

He didn't notice that Sakura had moved and was now watching over his shoulder.

"Those dates are over a year ago, when's the most recent?"

Kakashi was already flipping to the last page before her question was finished.

"Exactly a year ago..." That cold and prickling sensation began to claw at his heart as well as the back of his neck. "This surveillance, or whatever it is, stopped here. On the day..." Kakashi let out an involuntary sigh, "On the day the Kyuubi killer got Obito."

Sakura was silent, Kakashi's mind was reeling too much to register if she was speaking anyway. Did it mean anything? It was hard to say at this point, and Obito, his former partner and voice of reason, well he was conveniently silent.

"It could... just be a coincidence, right?" Sakura sounded unsure of herself for the first time since he'd met her.

"There's no such thing as coincidence when it comes to murder investigations, Haruno."

The possibility of it being only coincidence and nothing more was lessened the more he scrutinized the pages of the notebook. There were details in here that Kakashi only knew to be true because he had been the one to find Obito's body, at the precise location listed on the page before him. It was a detail he would mention to Sakura, except that his body was no longer in his control and the words wouldn't form.

"Kakashi, we need to brief the Captain before we talk to Mizuki. He could be..."

"He isn't, I'm sure he isn't the Kyuubi killer. He's not smart enough. We just caught him red handed with what can only be described as a murder kit, complete with weapons and satanic ramblings. There's no way it's him. But we need what he knows, the only people who know these details were working the case or unfortunate witnesses, the fact that the killer only had time to take one of his eyes..."

Kakashi had worked perhaps a thousand homicide cases in his years as a detective, he'd seen awful things as a beat cop as well, but in speaking of the details of his friends murder bile began to rise in his throat. It was always harder when it was someone you knew, someone you cared for. His reverie was derailed as Sakura reached a hand around him to point at something on the page. He was sure that being this close to him she had to hear the thumping of his heart, it was practically deafening in his own ears.

"What is this... 6 digits, is this an area code? Why is it singing out to me..."

"That's no area code, and I know why it's singing out to you. It's because you've seen it every day you've been working here."

"Wait a minute, this is..."

"It's the plate registration for the rust bucket."

"Wait, does that mean Mizuki was following... you?"

Kakashi took a deep breath to steady himself.

"The car belonged to Obito Uchiha, it's why I've been so reluctant to have it replaced. Mizuki was following Obito..."


	9. Chapter 9

Sakura watched as Tsunade paced her office floor for the upteenth time, for a fleeting second she wondered if the carpet would wear through. There was so much to process, so much to inform her about, and Sakura had spoken thoroughly to be sure she hadn't missed a single detail.

The captain knew the status of the case in its entirety, right down to the observations that lay in the small notebook that was bagged and on her desk. Kakashi sitting on the small sofa in the corner giving the book a cold stare that completely morphed the look of his face. Sakura didn't recognize this glare, this energy seeping from her partner. She'd almost had to drag him into Tsunade's office to begin with, his eyes had clouded over in what she thought was anger, his fists clenched, silent. He remained in this state for the ten minutes that she had spoken to Tsunade and briefed her on the situation.

Now the captain herself had been overcome by what Sakura recognized as rage. It was how she had always been, and Kakashi was evidently the same, anything that was remotely incomprehensible caused them actual physical pain. She guessed it was the detectives prerogative to be angered by a puzzle that had yet to be solved.

After what seemed like an eternity, Tsunade finally spoke.

"God damn it... This is above my pay grade." The first part was mumbled before she rounded on Kakashi. "There's one thing I need to know Kakashi and I need to hear it from you now before we take one more step into this investigation." Tsunade placed both her palms flat on her desk, bracing herself first. "Do you think this is the guy?"

Something unspoken passed between Detective Hatake and the Captain, an acknowledgement of a dark and sinister aspect that was best left unsaid. Kakashi cleared his throat before speaking, but even then it wasn't any kind of normal tone, it was a gruff and short answer.

"Not exactly."

"What do you mean not exactly?"

"I mean, that I don't think he's the guy, I don't think he's smart enough full stop."

"Then what do you make of this?" Tsunade waved the small notebook in the air, Kakashi sat up and stretched over to take it from her but he said nothing.

Sakura decided to step in.

"Obviously Mizuki has some kind of involvement with Obito, and it's more than likely that he murdered Samantha Winters, we just have to agree on a strategy to get an explanation from him..."

"Yes, that goes without saying Haruno, but my chief concern here is that one of my best detectives may be unable to handle that feat. Kakashi, can you handle this without flying off the handle?" Tsunade's eyes never left him as she spoke, but he didn't appear to be inclined to answer just yet. "In an entire year you've not once had a lead with this kind of substance, but while we may be one step closer to the truth of what happened to Obito, we also need to acknowledge... that he may have been keeping secrets from us as well."

Sakura wasn't so sure now on if she should respond at all, while it was directed at Kakashi and she felt an odd insurgence of a need to protect him suddenly, she did not know Obito. There was no way for her to form any kind of answer that would help her partner or appease the Captain though she wanted to desperately. She had to settle for watching Kakashi shift slightly under the weight of their combined gaze.

"You think I don't know that? Because I do, he was far from perfect, and if he were keeping anything from me it would be for my own protection, I know it." He took a deep shuddering breath. "But there's only one way to know for sure, and that's by questioning Mizuki. I don't think he knows anything, but I think... I think he may have _seen _something."

"You think he may have seen the Kyuubi killer?"

"Perhaps, perhaps not. It's evident from this that he was following Samantha, and that she crossed paths with Obito more than once. I'm positive that it was Samantha who knew something, and that she may have been one of Obito's CI's..."

"Criminal informant, huh. But she's not recorded in the system..."

"Since when did Obito do any of his own paperwork, Captain?"

"That is unfortunately true, but I still need to know, can you handle this?"

Each word of the question was punctuated for emphasis, and she could see the resolve set on Kakashi's features before he answered.

"I'll have to, there's no other way. Sakura, I'm going to need your help... and one other thing."

"Of course." She spoke without hesitation.

"I need you to trust me."

Both Kakashi and Tsunade were watching her now and it was oddly unsettling, it caused her to pause in thought for a moment. She trusted Kakashi as her partner and he knew this, they had spoken about it before he had shown her into his apartment. But in this instance it felt like a heavier request, that she needed to trust not only Kakashi as a person, but also his ability as a detective. She remembered all the things Tsunade had said about Kakashi, his intelligence, his dedication, and it was all she needed to know to form a response.

"Of course."

Kakashi stood up with a nod, his expression still trained into impassiveness.

"I'll put pressure on the lab to get forensic analysis fast tracked, once you're done with Mizuki file a warrant for his apartment."

"Yes, Captain." They spoke at the same time but didn't exchange glances.

"Good, now hurry up and question that dirt bag before his lawyer gets here. Dismissed."

Sakura turned and headed out the door first, Kakashi following behind, before it was shut he called back to Tsunade.

"Actually, Captain, a dirt bag is a very useful part of a vacuum cleaner..."

"So help me, Hatake, I will throw this stapler at your head and hit the mark this time..."

The door clicked shut before she was able to get fully heated on the topic. Sakura would have rolled her eyes at his comment, but honestly, she was glad that he was at least back to some modicum of normalcy. Irritating Tsunade seemed to be one of his favorite pastimes, to say the least.

"Okay." Sakura cracked her knuckles. "Mizuki hasn't been processed yet, while you were powdering your nose the officers on duty said they would wait for our word to go ahead with it. Y'know, in case the guy was innocent and there was a good explanation for the bag of knives and attempted arson… I'll process him with the fingerprint kit while we question him, take DNA as well, save some time… we need to tie him to those knives first and foremost, right?"

She turned to look at Kakashi, not expecting to meet his eyes and unusually soft expression.

"Good plan, Sakura. I wonder if you were this efficient as a doctor…"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing really, I just think our precinct lucked out and that Konoha General must be suffering in your absence."

Sakura stopped walking and had to blink a couple of times in disbelief before her brain started working again. He was… complimenting her? It was one of those jellyfish comments, it stung a little on the outset but he had meant something nice by it… he was trying at least. Sakura smiled just a fraction.

"Thanks… I think…"

"I'll show you where the kits are and how to check them out of the locker. We can go over our strategy for dealing with Mizuki."

"Well we have the advantage, we caught him red handed trying to destroy suspicious property." Sakura omitted that she felt like she would have an advantage during this questioning. Not only had she memorized the academy training on it, she also had a minor in psychology as a secret weapon. "We could apply the classic Reid technique, but I'm guessing Mizuki isn't going to give anything away, body language or otherwise."

"You're right, we do have the advantage, but not exactly in the way that you suggest. We have leverage in the knowledge, not only that Samantha was pregnant, but that Mizuki's own mother was the one who ratted him out and gave us the intel on the storage locker to begin with. I'm willing to bet that he is desperate to know how we found him so quickly."

"According to Hana he's one step ahead of us, you don't think he's already worked out that it was his own mom who phoned in?"

"I don't think he's as smart as she would have us believe, manipulative yes, but that doesn't mean that he has any shred of intelligence. The two aren't mutually exclusive. I think from what I've seen in those notebooks, from what we know from our brief encounter with him, Mizuki likes to be in control... "

"And when he loses that control..."

"My guess is that's what Samantha Winters found out, the hard way."

There was a time where Sakura wouldn't have cared to ponder on what would cause a person to become so dangerously irate that they killed the person they were meant to love. Not just killed, cut into pieces, stripped of every part that made her human. As a doctor her job had been to assess the ill and fix it with surgery, she'd never been subjected to something so... well, subjective. It was a grey area, and it was as terrifying as it was fascinating.

Samantha deserved justice for what had happened to her, and her mother deserved answers and something to help her forge a path back to peace of mind. But as Kakashi hit the button on the elevator Sakura's thoughts inevitably drifted back to the high stakes that this case held for her partner and his own peace. To be able to put his friend to rest and take a dangerous killer off the streets. Long ago this kind of pressure would have been the catalyst to a panic attack, but today Sakura simply breathed it in, used it to fuel her.

She was not going to leave that interrogation without something to show for it, there was too much on the line.

Mizuki was sitting at the table when they entered, a look of passive nonchalance on his face, as if they had just happened to run into him at the grocery store. Sakura deposited the heavy DNA and fingerprint collection kit on the table with a thump, Mizuki didn't startle or even blink, much to Sakura's displeasure. Kakashi sat himself opposite, taking the note pad from his pocket first. Sakura began opening the case.

"Mizuki Tsubaki, we have a few questions for you that we would appreciate-"

"I'm not answering anything without a lawyer, I'm not stupid."

"Of course not, you aren't dumb enough to give us a DNA sample either I bet." Kakashi made a show of closing the notebook with a sigh. "We still have to process you though, standard procedure, just going to take your fingerprints and statement."

"That's fine, as long as this pretty little pink thing is the one doing it, I'll consent."

Sakura fought the urge to roll her eyes.

"Thanks. The sooner we get you processed the sooner we can all get out of here, right Sakura?"

She nodded in reply.

"For the record you guys have nothing, just jumping at me on what is technically my property..."

"That storage facility isn't _your _property..."

"I rent the unit, so it's mine, and all the stuff that's inside it. You got no right taking any of it. Now undo these cuffs."

_Bingo, _he's just admitted to the unit being his, which is something they already knew but now it was on record from his own mouth. As well as whatever terrifying things lay within the unit itself. Sakura complied with Mizuki's request with a nod of confirmation from Kakashi, he had been shackled to the table, she needed them off to get the prints anyway. Kakashi continued with the interview undeterred and unwavering, professional, not giving anything away. It was the first time that Sakura really noted that she had never seen him in this concentrated capacity, she had never really seen what Kakashi was capable of as a detective. It was all the legendary tales that she had heard during her training that came to mind, and suddenly she was in awe.

"You're correct, we don't have any right to whatever is in that locker. But we are allowed to collect the trash, and the bag that you threw away as well."

She suppressed a smirk at Kakashi's words. As she began to set up the fingerprint kit she couldn't help but wonder why this process hadn't been made digital like the other precincts she had toured. It was one of the things she would change as Captain...

"I can throw out whatever I want, and I'm not saying anything about it either."

"Would you be willing to tell us why you were going to burn the place to the ground."

"Look, I told you, I'm not an idiot. I know what I'm doing and I'm not saying anything without a lawyer, so save your breath old man."

Sakura expected the quip to be met with sarcasm, disdain or immediate mockery, instead she watched the corners of Kakashi's mouth turn into the slightest of smirks. He was keeping his cool so well, there was too much on the line for him to fly off the handle.

Once the form had been signed and written, Sakura began to ink Mizuki's fingertips first.

"You know what you're doing alright..." Kakashi leaned forward. "And so do we."

"You don't know shit, you're just following a trail of breadcrumbs and got lucky. That's all this is, luck. You're nothing detective."

The conversation was so fraught with tension that it made her ears ring, but to anyone watching through the observation window it wouldn't appear that way. Mizuki looked so cool, so collected, and while Kakashi leaned on the table he too appeared relaxed and in his element.

"You're right again, Mizuki, what can I say, it has been a lot of luck." He nodded imperceptibly to Sakura and she reciprocated, it was time. "It was lucky that you botched the job removing the teeth on Samantha's skull and left one behind-"

"You've got no proof that it was me-"

"It was luck that those boys fished it out before DNA could be washed away, and it was luck that Samantha's mother came into the precinct so quickly for us to match it to her-"

"It's just your word that it's her. I want to see this DNA proof or whatever so I can give it to my lawyer-"

"It was pure luck that Detective Haruno here found your own mother's phone number on Samantha's records and gave her a call." _Bingo. _Mizuki was stunned into silence for the first time since they had sat down with him. Kakashi waited for him to respond all the same.

"You've got no right to talk to my mom-"

"So what? You said it yourself, Mizuki, it was luck and nothing more. Luck that she happened to tell us about the baby that was on the way. I wonder if you knew about it-"

"Of course I knew about it, dumbass, it was mine."

"_Was _yours, yes. But you threw it _all _away didn't you. And we just got lucky with the trash."

Something had switched in Mizuki and Sakura could see it before she felt it, the hand that she was trying to take a palm print from began to shake just slightly before going still. And then she watched as his fingers curled into a steady fist.

"I'm not admitting to anything, Dumb-ass. So why don't you just shut up so we can all get out of here? That's what you wanted, right? Get back to your rest home before the news is on, Grandpa..."

"Yes, well, it was certainly lucky that your mother told us about that storage locker before you were able to burn any evidence away." Kakashi continued in a quiet yet malevolent tone, "You know she said you were smart, but we never expected to get so... _lucky, _turning up and finding you tossing out the murder weapon just like you tossed Samantha's skull into that river. I think the only dumb-ass here, is you Mizuki, and I'll prove it."

Those were the last words Sakura remembered before Mizuki snapped. One second the men had been calmly exchanging heated words, and in the next second the palm that she had been collecting evidence from snaked around her wrist.

It was quick, too quick for even her reflexes, her brow furrowed in confusion but before her mouth opened the crushing and fearsome grip of the man took affect. As if in slow motion Kakashi's eyes drifted down to the table before back to Mizuki, and then he was out of his chair. Sakura kept her eyes on the magnanimous asshole that was currently bruising her skin with searing pain, and the disgusting smile that played upon his face, his eyes dark and unrecognizable.

Before Kakashi had even gotten halfway around the table Mizuki had slammed Sakura's hand against the panel with a harsh crack that made her world spin violently in pain, bile immediately rising to her throat at the sickening feeling of being unable to move her wrist.

The last thing she remembered seeing with her own eyes was Kakashi forcefully pressing Mizuki into the wall and slapping cuffs back on him. The last thing she heard was Kakashi's voice calmly speaking to Mizuki despite what had just happened.

"I'm going to have to do a lot of paperwork about this next bit."

There was another whacking sound of flesh against flesh and a sick thump as Mizuki fell to the floor like a bag of potatoes. Blearily Sakura cracked an eye to see Kakashi standing over her, his bloodied knuckles checking her mangled wrist.

And then it all faded into inky blackness.

What happened next for Sakura was a blur of bright lights and a familiar scent of ammonia. It felt like she had fallen into a familiar daydream somewhere in that zone between asleep and awake, but it was all she could do not to focus on the pain when it reared its ugly head. She decided that she must have passed out from the pain or shock of it all, compounded tiredness an added factor.

In true Sakura fashion it wasn't uncertainty for her safety that finally brought her back to earth, it wasn't fear, or even pain. It was anger, pure unadulterated rage that she hadn't been quick enough to get a shot at the bastard herself. Unknowingly her hand tried to form a fist and this time the pain that accompanied the action caused her to sit bolt upright and wake up fully.

What greeted her was a sterile room, a bed with a curtain around it, and Kakashi who must have been dozing on the chair in the corner. When she moved he shook his head almost comically and was straight at her side.

"You're awake, how are you feeling?"

"Sore as fuck. Where-"

"Oh, sorry I should have started with that, we're at the Accident and Emergency centre down the street from the precinct. I assumed that you would rather stay away from Konoha General…"

"You assumed right, that's actually… really thoughtful of you."

"I am capable of it from time to time. Is there anyone you want me to contact? Family? Boyfriend?" His eyebrow raised.

"No, on all counts. I'm as single as they come."

At another time the small talk would be enough to sustain and distract her from the paint, for the moment though it only settled to poke a sharp stick at the bear of anger within her. She needed details.

"Have they said what kind of break it is?"

"Uh, not exactly, some kind of fracture but we're waiting on the doctor-"

"Greenstick or stress fracture? You know what, just hand me the chart will ya?"

"Oh, right…"

Kakashi stood and fumbled around until he found the plastic board with the medical sheets clipped to it. Not wanting to make the same mistake again and move her injured hand, Sakura made a point to keep it as still as possible while she handled the clipboard.

"Well it won't need surgery in any case and that's a bonus…"

"Does that mean it will heal faster?"

"Not necessarily, but it means I won't have to be operated on in Konoha General by those bastards I used to work with, and that is definitely a good thing."

Kakashi made a kind of forced sounding noise in amusement before he pulled a chair over to the side of her bed and sat in it with a sigh.

"Sakura, just let me say this, I'm so sorry. If I'd known, in any way, that you were in physical danger I'd have never goaded Mizuki like that…"

"Kakashi, stop. Stop now, don't beat yourself up about it. You did a good thing, you got under his skin, and now at least if we don't get him for Sam's murder we'll get him on assaulting a police officer."

"Oh, he's got to be guilty that son of a- anyway. But you have a point there, maybe I shouldn't have-"

"Punched his lights out? Oh, you definitely should have, what did his face look like when it happened? I want all the details."

Kakashi smiled.

"Well, I don't think he'll be calling me Grandpa again any time soon, with him being the one needing false teeth and all…"

"Nice." Sakura smiled, the pain beginning to ebb just a fraction. "I just wish I'd gotten a shot in."

"You'll have your chance soon enough, I'll make sure of it." Kakashi softened. "I mean it, I really am sorry Sakura. I should have taken better measures to protect you."

"Hey, it happens. You're not going to always be able to protect me, especially from crazy people we're questioning, you had no way of knowing he would try to hurt me. It's fine. Let's just get out of here and get him locked up. What time is it?"

Kakashi retrieved his phone from his jacket pocket.

"Little after midnight. We can legally hold Mizuki for longer now that he's assaulted a police officer. Tsunade is furious, I've never seen her like this before. She filed the warrant for his apartment herself, it's already been signed by the judge, we should be able to sweep it in the morning."

"Wait, she can't be furious with you, it wasn't your fault. I'll talk to her…"

"Oh, no, I'm not in the firing line this time, surprisingly enough. Mizuki is though. I've phoned in a favor to get security on him just in case the Captain goes in and breaks him into pieces herself."

"That bad, huh?"

"I've been working under her for ten years and I've never seen her so… volatile. I mean she's protective of her detectives, she slapped the prostitute we arrested last year for breaking Genma's nose while he was undercover… but this is next level. And you've only been here for a week."

"What are you saying?"

"It's just very strange, and interesting, I wonder why she would go so far for a rookie. A talented rookie, but still…"

"Well, I think you're just experiencing the paranoia that often comes with old age. We can organize someone for you to talk to if you like-"

The back and forth between them started again, a volley of thinly veiled insults, except this time it ended differently. Sakura would later attribute it to the pain from the fracture to her wrist, that it had addled her mind, but eventually they both sat there unable to breathe from laughter. She couldn't say exactly when the tittering giggles had begun, somewhere between her explaining where he could purchase a hearing aid and his accusing her of being an alien spy with pink hair sent from an anime bent on destroying his career.

In between insults a nurse had been in to administer pain relief and prep Sakura's wrist for a splint. The hours passed slowly while they spoke, at one point she had tried to make Kakashi go home and get some rest, but he was adamant on not leaving her alone. It was the partner's rule and that was the end of that. Eventually the conversation drifted back to the case and all that they had learned, with no windows in the room it was impossible really to keep track of the time, neither of them were looking at their phones.

Not until Kakashi's phone began to vibrate on the table. The word 'Captain' lighting up for all to see.

"Hatake." He answered with no emotion, likely preparing himself for the storm of anger that was Tsunade Senju. "Yeah, we're still here and waiting on the splint, why?"

Sakura strained her ears but she could only hear mumbling from the Captain, the fact that she wasn't shouting down the phone meant that her mood must have improved some.

"All of it was positive for human blood, Jesus. Is it a match to-"

More mumbling.

"Yes, Ma'am. We'll be there as soon as possible."

Kakashi looked at his phone for a few seconds with that pained expression again, that one which meant there was a puzzle that needed to be solved. He stood up quickly.

"Where are you going? Is the blood Sam's?"

"The DNA isn't finished yet, and I'm going to find the doctor, we need to get out of here, food and dressed fast. Then back to the precinct by 9am."

"We've got all night, what's the rush?"

"Well, for starters, we've got… two hours." He said double checking the screen on his phone which flashed 7am for her to see. "Second we need to get to Mizuki fast, he wants to talk to us, said he's got information in return for a deal."

"Information…"

"Yeah. I'm not sure if I trust it off the bat, it's not anything to do with the Kyuubi Killer or Obito. Have you ever heard of a gang called the Akatsuki?"


	10. Chapter 10

Kakashi continued to silently ruminate, turning his knuckles over in his hand as he sat on the low sofa in Sakura's apartment. There was little to distract him from examining his own bruises or obsessively checking his phone for the current time, with precious little to spare it had been a stroke of luck that half his wardrobe lived in the back of that sedan. So now freshly dressed (fresh being a relative term), he sat here waiting for Sakura to be finished freshening up in the bathroom.

It felt odd to be in her apartment, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was extremely out of place. He'd showered quickly, dressed quickly, accepted the offering of coffee and a muffin. He'd made sure to eat it in the kitchen over the sink, the whole place was so clean it was almost sterile, with its modern furniture and expensive looking electronics.

In short it was the stark opposite to his own tower of solace and it was glaringly obvious from where he currently sat. The plain white wall was adorned with only two frames, one containing a graduates diploma from the police academy, first of her class with honors. The other was a picture of Sakura receiving the award on stage with the Commissioner himself. It was quite jarring as he pictured his own walls, with every available space taken up by any and all scraps of paper that could be relevant to the case. That was just how his mind worked, with utter chaos.

Yesterday he had been working with absolute clarity, despite all the damning revelations, and it had continued to be clear until this very moment. The silence of the room only echoed the silence of his own conscience, only his thoughts were there to distract him, Obito's voice had been quiet for a while now and he'd only just noticed properly.

He attempted to shake himself out of it, flexing his knuckles and jerking his head just a little. There were far bigger things at play here, it was selfish to think only of himself, his own peace of mind. He needed to look at the bigger picture here.

_It's what Obito would have done. _

Kakashi heard the shower turn off from down the hall and he continued to fidget restlessly. Adding to this feeling was the fact that Sakura had been hurt today under his watch, and it shouldn't have happened, he should have taken more protective measures. Despite Sakura's assurances that she was fine he'd been unable to acquit himself of the guilt and from experience he knew that it would likely remain. It was just another thing to add to his cargo hold of baggage. Try as he might, Kakashi could not sit still any longer, first he fidgeted and then he stood up to pace.

He desperately wondered just what Obito would have said or done in this situation but it still remained on the tip of his tongue.

The sound of muffled swearing reached his ears.

"Need a hand?" He'd meant it in a way of assistance, he couldn't help that it sounded like a thinly veiled insult with his tone of voice. It would probably be a little difficult for her with only one working hand.

"Very funny, Hatake."

Even through the closed door she sounded eerily like Tsunade.

With his train of thought lost, Kakashi went to sit on the arm chair, reaching out to lift the fluffy white cushion that sat awkwardly at the back of it. Except this was no cushion, evident when the thing hissed and took a swipe at him.

"Oh, sorry."

Why he was apologizing to a cat he didn't know, but it would be good practise, he'd be needing to apologize to a lot of people after knocking Mizuki out cold. He'd do it again in a heartbeat, but they didn't need to know that detail. As he sat back down on the couch he decided that he probably would need to apologize to Sakura again too, for that incidental hand quip and all the rest. His eyes drifted to the framed picture on the wall but were caught off by a pair of azure eyes attached to a giant ball of white fluff. They were glaring at him ominously from the floor.

The cat apparently did not appreciate his apology one bit, and continued to stare him out from it's spot on the floor. The cat was fitting in an apartment like this, designer and beautiful, just like all the furnishings. The only thing that didn't fit in here was Kakashi, and a rather antique looking wooden box that was next to the cat. At first Kakashi had thought it a magazine rack of some kind, but instead it held a pile of wooden frames, and from where he sat he couldn't make out what was in them. As he stood to get a better look, the cat regarded him so closely he thought it may just pounce at him.

"Uh… Nice kitty…"

He approached with caution, only to find that the frames held all the medical degrees Sakura had accrued. It was rather telling that they had been stripped down from the prime position in the apartment to make room for her new achievements. It reminded him of the fact that there was probably nothing that Sakura Haruno couldn't do. He'd never seen someone get their bones fractured without even so much as wincing. She was a force to be reckoned with.

The cat began to growl very quietly the closer he got to it, so he backed away with his arms up in mock surrender just as Sakura walked back into the room towelling her hair dry and yawning.

"Wouldn't have pegged you for a cat person… Why is it staring at me like that?"

"For starters, she's not an it, she's Lady Katsuyu. And she doesn't _know _that she's a cat."

"Huh?"

"Well, I hand reared her, so she thinks she's human. And she's probably looking at you like that and wondering why you've copied her hair style…"

Kakashi raked a hand through the tufts of silvery hair that always seemed to spike in one direction no matter how he tried to tame it.

"Well, she didn't accept my apology for almost sitting on her."

"That's because that's _her _chair. How are we looking for time by the way?"

"We should get to the precinct with time to spare if we leave within the next ten minutes. How's it... going?"

Kakashi asked the question deliberately and carefully while he regarded Sakura readjusting the bulky cover to her injured wrist.

"It's fine, just awkward and slow, sorry I would have been quicker..."

"Why are you apologizing? You've done nothing wrong. I'm the one... who should be..."

"Oh, Hatake, you're still going on about that? Drop it will you, I'm the one who got hurt and I'm feeling sorry for you." Sakura gave him a look that wasn't to be trifled with as he met her eye. "Seriously, there was nothing you could have done differently, and it isn't your fault. You can't plan for or prevent unstable behavior like that, it finds a way to happen, and now we can use it to our advantage right? He's willing to give up information now isn't he, I'd call it a win."

Kakashi couldn't help the upturn of his lips.

"How do you do that?"

"Do what?" She asked with a tone of mild irritation.

"How do you make everything so.. positive? You did it with those boys on day one, with me at that storage facility, with the Captain. I've seen it in rookies before, don't get me wrong, but it usually passes once they get a bone broken."

She paused in thought while giving him an odd look, as if she were studying him like one of the text books she had on her coffee table.

"Well, my aunt used to tell me, don't get mad, get even. So that's what we're gonna do. Ready?"

"Your aunt sounds terrifying, wise but terrifying."

"It runs in the family." She gave him a wink and for a second Kakashi was certain that his eyebrows had ascended so far they'd physically left his face. "Did you need to stop by your place to feed Pakkun or let him out or something?"

"Arrangements for Pakkun have been made. Are you sure you're up to it with that wrist? You didn't exactly get a lot of rest last night."

"Speak for yourself old man, it'll take more than this to stop me."

"Could everyone just lay off the old man jokes for a bit? I'm not that much older than you, and it's not like I dye my hair this way."

"Now maybe you'll think twice before poking fun at the pink hair then, hmm? Come on, let's go."

The drive back to the precinct was uneventful, Kakashi every so often catching the sight of his bruised knuckles resting on the steering wheel and wondering what exactly had come over him yesterday. It had been a heated and tense situation, but he'd never been the violent type in interrogation before. He guessed it was because there was so much riding on this one suspect, the connection to Obito's killer, the Kyuubi killer and Samantha's murderer.

But that surging rage had never been so out of his control like that before, and it had happened the instant he'd seen the look on Mizuki's face as he'd gripped Sakura's wrist. It hadn't even been a question of whether or not it was a good idea before his fist was made and hurtling toward that smug bastard's jaw. The more he thought about it the more questions presented in his mind.

Would he have done the same for Obito? Was it only because Sakura was a woman that he reacted so violently? The answers weren't exactly forthcoming. It made him miss that voice in his head, that distinctly Obito tone telling him exactly what he needed to hear, even if he didn't exactly want to hear it.

"Would you stop fretting already, Hatake? You're thinking so loud I can hear it."

Sakura's voice broke through the cacophony of thoughts that were spiraling.

"What is that supposed to mean? I've interrogated hundreds of suspects, this one is no different."

"But it is. It is very, very different. This guy has information on Obito, not to mention that he's probably a murderer. What if he leads us straight to the Kyuubi killer?"

"I wish I could have some of your optimism, Haruno. But I've learned the hard way that it's best not to hope for any outcome when it comes to a high stakes case. The emotions are too much to bare no matter what the outcome may be..."

"Bullshit."

Whenever she swore like that it always made Kakashi double take, to see such a pink haired sweet looking individual say such ugly words, it was beguiling.

"How have you managed to turn into a mini-Tsunade in just a week-"

"I know bullshit when I hear it, Kakashi. You might be scared to make progress on this, but it's happening whether you like it or not-"

"Haven't I earned the right to be afraid?" The words came out more harshly than he intended. "It doesn't matter, as long as we get the right guy, none of it matters. But I'm taking anything that asshole says under advisement, he's not to be trusted in any way, shape or form."

"Fear is a good thing, remember? Means you're still human."

That statement caused him to glance sideways to the passengers seat.

Suddenly the guilt wasn't lurking so badly in his mind like a bad taste that wouldn't leave. He'd reacted that way out of fear, out of protection for his partner and that weird positivity that she seemed to exude. He'd have done the same for Obito because he was the same as Sakura, optimistic, challenging and intelligent.

"Thanks, Sakura."

She appeared confused.

"What for?"

"Nevermind. We're here. This time you sit on the opposite side of the table, alright?"

"Got it. You mind if we lead with the questions I have in mind?"

"You lead away, I trust you."

"Promise me you'll keep your hands to yourself this time-"

"I will, as long as he doesn't do anything to warrant another knock to the face-"

"Save a shot for me, I've still got one working hand, if anyone is punching him this time it's gonna be me-"

"So you suggest we take turns in beating up the witnesses..."

Sakura rolled her eyes, sticking her tongue out in a petulant sorta way, Kakashi found himself smiling at the expression all the same. The good mood he'd unwittingly been lead into dissipated the moment they entered the building. The looks he was receiving from other officers, the jeers they thought were silent enough not to reach his ears, hushed whispers of his sanity. This was what had greeted him everyday since Obito's death and it was a burden that was beginning to take its toll. It was certainly something he didn't wish for Sakura-

"And just what do you think you're looking at?"

One of the first floor uniformed officers was scratching his head while trying to avoid direct eye contact with the vicious pink haired detective who was pointing a finger to his chest. Kakashi's first instinct was to usher her to the elevator but he also wasn't too keen to be on the receiving end of her rage for the second.

"Detective Haruno, we really should be moving now, I'm sure Officer..."

"Inuzuka..." The young man stammered.

"Didn't mean anything by it, right?"

The officer nodded profusely, Sakura appeared to be appeased for the moment before marching to the elevator.

"Hurry up, Kakashi."

He didn't spare Inuzuka a second glance, deciding it was best to comply with her demands immediately. It had an added and unforeseen bonus, the closer he stayed to Sakura the less likely he would receive those judging looks from others, who were now suitably terrified into staying away from her. There was nothing about her facial expressions to give her away, even as the doors to the elevator closed, Kakashi gave her another sideways glance.

"What was that about?" He tried adding a softness to his tone that was usually absent but something he had heard enough from Sakura herself to be able to mimic. She answered with a sigh first.

"I promised to be honest with you, well, this…" She gestured to the black cast brace on her arm that she was keeping held up and across her chest to minimize swelling. "I just don't want people to think that I'm weak."

"I wouldn't worry about that, at this rate you'll be just as terrifying as Tsunade by the end of the week." Kakashi regarded the pursing of her lips and decided that she was holding back a smile. "Must have been pretty cut throat at Konoha General for you to be this uptight..."

"You could say that."

For some reason Kakashi felt as if she were deliberately omitting something, but he wasn't going to press her for information she wasn't willing to give freely, if it were important she'd have told him. Perhaps it was just the absence of argument at his uptight comment, or a lack of an insult aimed in his direction that irked him.

Tsunade was waiting to greet them in the bullpen, with a nod of her head Kakashi recognized the order to follow to her office. News traveled fast in the precinct, not one person spared himself or Sakura a glance, there were no whispers,no pointed stares or gasps. It was more of a relief that he could have anticipated.

"Shut the door." Tsunade barked as she sat, Kakashi complied. "How's the hand, Detective Haruno?"

"It's just fine Ma'am, minor stress fracture, minimal pain."

"Good. Normally I'd assign you to desk duty, but I don't see the harm in your interrogating Mizuki. Which brings me to the next subject- Kakashi, the Commissioner isn't exactly thrilled at your little display yesterday, but he's willing to overlook it as it appeared to be only in retaliation."

"Thank you, Captain..."

"That being said you're on your best behavior." Tsunade abruptly stood and drew the curtains to her office window before locking the door. "We can't risk this being overheard or interrupted." She rounded back to her desk chair. "And what we're about to discuss is only between the three of us, agreed?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Good. Now this Mizuki Tsubaki, while he doesn't appear to be the most intelligent of criminals, breaking an officer's arm mid-questioning, he has basically secured his protection by offering information on the Akatsuki."

"What? Does that mean we won't book him for Samantha's murder? That's bullsh-"

"Sakura, I'm well aware that it is frustrating, he's guilty as sin for that murder. We swept his apartment this morning with forensics and the bathroom lit up like a Christmas tree with luminol. There's no doubt he skinned that poor woman in the bathroom of his apartment, the DNA on the knives he tried to burn also came back to Samantha. It's a closed case... however, we all know that there is more to this."

"Obito." The name fell from Kakashi's lips of its own accord.

"Exactly."

"What is the Akatsuki? I've never heard of it..." Sakura's eyes darted between Kakashi and Tsunade as she spoke.

"I would be surprised if either of you have heard of it. We're talking high level organized crime, there have been whispers but nothing tangible thus far. Supposedly they are linked to every major crime in the city."

"That's insane, how can they remain so secret but be connected to that much criminal activity?"

"Well, according to the Commissioner, they only recently made their presence known. It appears they have been operating in the shadows for some time with very few players in the know, so it's impossible to tell what they're up to or find any members willing to talk."

"Does that mean our case gets turned over to the Organized Crime Unit?" Sakura had that petulance to her tone as she spoke though Tsunade didn't acknowledge or scold her for it to Kakashi's surprise.

"Not necessarily. We still don't know if we can trust anything Mizuki says, and he may just be pandering to us to avoid a harsher sentence. Your job is to go in there and squeeze every bit of intell he has-"

Tsunade continued to speak, but Kakashi was suddenly not listening. There was a cold prickling sensation across his shoulders, clawing its way up his neck. There was something here... and then he found himself interrupting the Captain, an action which usually would have got him into trouble, but the brevity of his words meant that he escaped punishment.

"The Kyuubi Killer could be working for the Akatsuki..."

Silence. Tsunade's eyes widened, Sakura maintained impassiveness, but Kakashi was no longer paying close attention to either of them.

"Hatake, that's a bold statement."

"Think about it, the victims all had ties to crime, we thought we were dealing with some twisted vigilante, but what if it isn't... what if he's just a hit man for an organization..."

"Think about what you're saying, remember that your partner is also one of those victims, are you calling Obito Uchiha a dirty cop? Because so help me I will throw you out this window and onto the street-"

"Of course not, I'm saying that maybe Obito got too close, maybe he was following a lead on another case and ran into them..." When something bothered Kakashi Hatake he usually made sure it stopped, and there was definitely something that didn't sit right with this whole situation. The feeling was akin to drinking one too many coffees, his head was rushing through all the possibilities all at once. "It just makes sense, doesn't it?"

"This is pure conjecture at this point, Hatake, calm down. I need you to have your wits about you when you go in there, and I know this is the first solid lead you've had in the case, but I need you to look at the bigger picture here. On the slim chance that Mizuki's information has any stock to it, this could mean a lead on the biggest crime organization in the city. Keep your head on straight, got it?"

Kakashi couldn't bring himself to answer, his mind still swirling through all the evidence he'd painstakingly collected and pinned to his living room wall. Going over every bit of Obito's cases in his mind that he could remember. Until he felt a hand gripping his arm, it was Sakura.

"Got it?" The captain repeated in a concerned tone, the look on Sakura's face matched it.

"Yeah, yes, of course Captain."

"Good. Now get to it."

The dramatic change in Mizuki from the day before led Kakashi to believe that they were dealing with someone who was mentally unstable. If he had to put a label on it he would say some kind of schizophrenia, he made a note is his mind to ask Sakura about it later.

Mizuki was cuffed to the table and alone, sporting a terrific bruise on his right eye and looking disheveled. There was something in his eyes that reminded Kakashi of an animal, one that had been backed into a corner.

_Just where we want him._

The voice of his conscience was Sakura this time, not Obito, but there was no time to dwell on that fact.

"We understand you wanted to talk to us?" Sakura asked, sitting directly across from Mizuki with a look on her face that would frighten most small children. "Without a lawyer, huh? That doesn't seem very smart."

She was pulling no punches.

"Does it matter?" Mizuki even sounded different, resigned to his fate. "I figure now I need to make sure I don't get murdered in prison. Maybe even a home detention situation… I have information for you, in exchange for a cushier sentence."

"We'll see. First things first, we swept your apartment, found the blood in the bathroom. The knives you tried to burn also had blood matching Samantha's, you want to tell us why you did it, Mizuki?"

Kakashi was content in watching Sakura take the lead for now, watching her as she deliberately used his name, humanizing him before talking about the despicable and inhumane act he'd committed.

"Before I tell you, you need to know, I loved her… I loved her so much."

"So much that you chopped her up into pieces?"

"Not… just that." He sighed deeply. "It started over a year ago… the fighting. It just all got too much, one night at the apartment. I don't even know why or what we were arguing about in the first place. The usual shit, jealousy or whatever. But something just snapped, I was so mad…" His hands had curled into shaking fists on the table. "It happened with her sometimes y'know, I loved her so much and she would just do stupid shit and I would just…. Snap."

"Yes, I've seen how you can just snap.": Sakura was deadpan as she adjusted her injured hand. "What did you do to Sam that night, Mizuki?"

"Everything went black, but I remembered later, when I saw all the blood… flashes of it. My hands were around her neck and then I just sort of went into auto-pilot. I don't know what else to tell you, suddenly her…" he swallowed thickly, "her skull was in my hand with a knife and I was doing these awful things to her… But you gotta understand that I loved her, I do love her…"

"If that's what you do to someone you love I'd hate to see what would happen to someone you don't like." Sakura kept impassive in her tone and on her face, Kakashi was impressed, so much so that it made his own head click back into the game.

"Where's the rest of her, Mizuki? We won't even consider hearing your information until you tell us where the rest of her body is."

"I'll… take you to the places, or I can point them out on a map for you. Most of the bigger bags were thrown in the garbage, there was a lot of them… some of her…organs I cut up and flushed down-"

Mizuki spoke as if he were disgusted by his own words, Sakura's nose was flared in disgust herself, but Kakashi was concentrating. To him it appeared to be an act of disgust more than anything, Mizuki had known exactly what he was doing throughout all of this, and that ruled out any kind of insanity plea he could make later.

"But I can help you, if you help me…" He might have tried not to sound desperate, but he failed miserably, shifting in his chair.

"First things first, I'm going to get that map and you can show us where you dumped her. Be right back…" Sakura stood abruptly.

"You're not… leaving me with… him?" Mizuki indicated to Kakashi with a nod.

"Why, are you scared? Maybe you should have thought about that before you fractured the Detective's wrist…"

"I guess I deserve it…"

While Mizuki stared solemnly at the table, Sakura winked to Kakashi before leaving the room, and he couldn't help the smile that broke out on his face for just a second. This shouldn't have been enjoyable, this was meant to be work, but for some reason Kakashi felt excited. It felt as if he had been reborn from the ashes in the last 48 hours and now he was back and ready to take down all the crime in the city.

When Sakura returned with one of the department tablets with a map brought up on screen Kakashi did a double take, but with the technology she was even able to bring up a street view for Mizuki to give more details. The way he described the places he dropped those bags containing his girlfriend's remains and that of his unborn child was disturbing in itself. It was as if he were simply talking about the places he'd taken a picnic in. Kakashi found it unsettling and sickening all at one, the color appeared to have drained from Sakura's complexion as well.

Both Detective's left the room, Kakashi calling the uniformed officers on duty to check the areas Mizuki pointed out, Sakura went to the bathroom and came back looking even more flustered and discolored. He'd have asked her if she was alright but he knew that she didn't want to appear weak to anyone, so instead he continued as he would normally and hoped that was enough.

"We'll hear from the uniform's soon, how do you want to approach this with Mizuki?" Kakashi held up the smaller notebook of surveillance notes they had seized.

"I'll let you handle that one." She said without hesitation, he raised a brow at her. "You know the details of the Kyuubi killings better than me, you've got this..."

"It's not that, I just figured you were doing so well in there you might as well keep going."

"Normally I would." Sakura coughed slightly. "Maybe I'm just in pain, anyway, we're meant to be keeping everything 50/50 remember?"

"Yeah, I remember." Kakashi scoffed. "Alright, he seemed pretty eager to show us the details on the map. Maybe he'll do the same with the book."

"You think we should make that deal with him? Does he... deserve it after what he's done to Samantha?"

"That's not for us to decide, unfortunately. If I had my way he'd be in a prison cell already and never see daylight again. Depending on what he can tell us, we may be able to put away some of the bigger criminal's in the city, save more lives."

"Seems like a heavy price to pay..."

He'd seen this before, a long time ago, recognized it as something he'd once struggled to come to terms with as a young detective. The world in in training and before dealing with hardened criminals was very black and white, but in reality it was all a grey seething mass of clouds. Sakura was learning this lesson first hand just as he had, just as Obito had, but there was something that he could do for Sakura in this instance.

"Sakura, remember..." Her eyes snapped to him. "Don't get mad, get even, right?"

And then she smiled, and it was genuine enough that it changed the look of her entirely. Kakashi decided in that moment that this was the expression he liked best on her. The reverie was interrupted as his cell phone buzzed in his hand.

"Hatake..."

It was the officer's, Mizuki's information had been correct, they had found a bag containing body parts at one of the locations. CSI was now taking over the scene. As he hung up the phone Kakashi felt a fire being lit under him, one that had long been extinguished.

"Let's get the information from this bastard then send him on his way."


	11. Chapter 11

Sakura didn't have time to be tired, it had been the same while she had practised medicine, but that was the only similarity she could draw from her short time as a detective so far. Ignoring the dull throb of her wrist she marched back into that interrogation room, making sure that she remained unreadable. Mizuki was exactly the kind of manipulative narcissist that she had been forced to deal with in her medical career. Although they were usually disguised as her peers, not patients. And she knew that he would likely use any kind of emotion against her to try and worm his way out of the situation.

She still couldn't get over the visible change in him from the day before, that confident facade had been broken into something that looked remarkably like acceptance. But she knew that he was capable of turning into a different kind of monster at the drop of the hat. Appearances were deceiving when it came to Mizuki Tsubaki, and Sakura was not about to be fooled again. He looked every bit harmless and dejected as he sat cuffed to that table with his shoulders sagging ever so slightly.

"Her blood is all over your tools, it's in your bathroom, we've got forensics testing your clothes. Now is probably the time you should get a lawyer, Mizuki."

"I'll get one, but you need to hear me out first, I've got information y'know and if you don't act fast it'll be too late."

"Oh, really?" Sakura tried and failed to disguise the sarcastic tone. "You think you can fool us, trying to get a quick deal written up and we draw the short straw? What if your information is full of shit?"

"I was right about the body parts, wasn't I? You gotta believe me-"

"I'm not in the habit of trusting murderers."

Sakura didn't care at this point if she was pissing him off, she was at the very end of her patience, a fact that was amplified by a bubbling anger. Mizuki regarded her with narrowing eyes which gave away his thoughts, she was glad that he was still cuffed.

"I have proof."

"Mah, that wouldn't be this, would it?" Kakashi withdrew the surveillance notebook they had confiscated from his pocket. Sakura was starting to wonder if he went anywhere without it. "You kept a very detailed record, it must be said…"

"Thanks, but that's not the proof I had in mind-."

"Who said I was complimenting you?" Kakashi basically spat the question as he dropped the book to the table with a thwack. "Listen good, there is only one way that the Konoha P.D will ever consider cutting a deal with the likes of you, and that's if you explain this book in every detail. Every page, you got it? Along with whatever information it is that you think is important, if it holds any stock we'll consider a lighter sentence for Samantha's murder, a nice prison perhaps, though it's more than you deserve…"

"Fine." Mizuki was now suitably pissed off.

"And for the record, do you, Mizuki Tsubaki know what this book is and who owns it?"

"Yes" he sighed, "that would be me. The book is mine. I wrote it."

"Who were you following?"

Sakura allowed Kakashi to take over from here with the questions while she took her own notebook out to jot down her notes and quiet observations.

"Like I said before, the jealousy with Sam, well it started just over a year ago when she tried to leave me. That mother of hers was telling her bullshit and she believed it. When we got back together I still… I couldn't trust her. Not properly anyway. I would sit outside her work in the car just to make sure she was there, kept an eye on anyone she would talk to. Call her to make sure she knew I could see her, that she couldn't get anything past me-"

There was a sick feeling like heartburn that intensified with every word he spoke, Sakura's disgust was so visceral that she felt it physically. That controlling nature of Mizuki had ultimately lead to Samantha's death, he'd been able to control her absolutely in the end, but now it was their turn to watch and control his movements. Kakashi opened the book to a specific page, almost without looking, and Sakura waited with bated breath for what was to come.

"Explain to me why you have the license plate details of a murdered detective's car written here, Mizuki."

He had asked it politely enough, but behind that tone was a foreboding and sharp edge that was waiting to come out. Mizuki sighed, lowering his head to rub his face with his shackled hands, the greasy matte of blonde hair falling in his eyes before he managed to brush it away.

"It's not what it looks like, I was only following him, I didn't kill him."

"Why were you following Detective Uchiha?"

"I told you, I was following Sam, and anyone she talked to. Staunched out the guys that hung around her too much. I didn't even know he was a cop at first, he just kept showing up while Sam was working, and he drove a fucking long way just to buy a can of soda. I didn't like it, so I followed him a couple times."

"It's more than just a couple of times.." Kakashi stated while flicking through the pages of the notebook. "Did you think to ask Sam why she was talking to a detective?"

"See, that's just it…" Mizuki's voice dropped, it was difficult to tell if this was out of anger or maliciousness, but it was chilling to Sakura all the same. "Sam was always doing stupid stuff to get me angry, and she liked doing it, she said that she was just talking to him, that he was related to some hot shot doctor who could help her mom."

Sakura felt as if she had been thrown into a bucket of ice water, because she knew which family he was referring to, she knew the doctors personally.

"So Detective Uchiha was helping her get in touch with a doctor?"

"Yeah, that's what she said, and I told her nothing is for free. She had to be giving him something for the favor…" Mizuki's eyes had gone dark and his lips were turned into a malevolent smile. "I followed them, I knew she wasn't cheating at least, but what she did was worse… She was giving him information."

"What kind of information?"

"Information about me, about the work I've been doing on the side. Which I would have told you about first but you guys had to get all shitty and insist on going about it all wrong, if you'd just listened to me-" He was getting more worked up by the second, banging his closed fists on the table and rattling the cuffs. "If everyone just listened to me in the first place, then I wouldn't have to fix all the shit that they cause-"

"Mizuki!" Sakura spat loudly with as much ferocity as she could manage, it was enough to make both Mizuki and Kakashi turn to look at her. It also had the desired effect of stopping Mizuki mid-tangent. "Get to the point fast or I'm going to have my turn rearranging your face." When he didn't reply Sakura reminded him of the incentive. "If you want that deal you better start making sense."

He sniffed loudly and took pause before answering.

"Started a couple years back, I was working at the gas station, some weirdo with a leather jacket comes up to me and asks if I'm any good at valeting cars. I tell him that I'll do it for a price. Next day he turns up with this car, a nice one, so I clean it out for him and he pays me a nice wad of cash. It keeps happening on and off, always different cars, always paying too much for just a cleaning job. But then he starts turning up more and more… guess I impressed him or something."

"Spare me your sycophantic rambling and get to the point…"

"Alright, just hear me out. Guy starts bringing these real messed up cars in late at night, always around the back and away from the cameras. Like we're talking blood and all kinds of weird shit on the inside. I look at the guy sideways but didn't ask any questions, didn't ask his name coz I didn't want to be linked, he was the one paying and I'm not stupid. The less I knew the better."

"How much blood?" Kakashi asked quickly.

"Too much."

"How often did this happen?"

"It's all in here." Mizuki nodded to the notebook. "Dates and times too, it went on for a year before the guy trusted me enough to get chatty."

"Did you get a name?"

"Called himself a codename, I always called him the Hebi, the snake. One day I got curious, I say to him, 'how'd you get all this cash and all these cars?'. Guy has to be younger than me by a few years at least." Mizuki leaned forward and grinned as if he were about to open a Christmas present. "He tells me he works for an outfit called the Akatsuki."

Mizuki stopped speaking, his eyes darting between the detectives and waiting for a reaction.

"That's it? That's all the information you have for us? A code name and the dates you cleaned some cars…"

"You obviously don't know how big a deal these Akatsuki guys are, Detective. But I can give you more than just a name, so long as I don't fry for killing Sam."

"What can you give us?"

"I can tell you where one of their labs is."

"That's a nice start." Kakashi spoke quietly. "But I want every detail of this entry here, Mizuki. I want to know exactly what you saw that day."

Mizuki sat silently he made no movements, no expressions, in a cold staring match with Kakashi. Sakura wasn't sure what prompted her next action, for she knew that Mizuki was a monster, but she had a prickling sensation running up her spine and a tingling that would not go away. So she appealed to his sensibilities.

"Did you tell Sam about any of this Mizuki?"

He softened.

"She knew, but she never told the cop anything. She wanted to get that doctor to see her mom first. I… I hate that old bat more than anyone but I didn't want Sam to have to go through more shit. If he could fix her mom then we could be free. So I told her to tell the cop, give him everything, get the help. The day that she did I followed him, but he didn't go the usual way, he went to a storage locker first, he talked to some guy. Then they both left and went to the docks, I followed behind a ways, thought I had lost them when I see that shitty sedan parked up. Wait an hour, but he never came back out."

"Did you get a good look at the guy he was talking to?" Kakashi sounded hurried but calm.

"No."

"Where was the storage locker?"

"That's just it dummies, if you had let me tell you from the first place then you might've had a chance. It's where my locker is at. That's where the lab is. The Akakstuki would have seen you bozo's staking the place out and abandoned it by now."

Sakura felt her eyes widen, she looked to Kakashi, his features were narrowed in concentration. She didn't know what to say next or even what to think. The puzzle pieces were being thrown at her and she needed time to put them together.

"Are there any other details you can remember about the man you saw with Detective Uchiha? Anything at all?" Kakashi now sounded urgent.

"Everything I know is in that book." Mizuki nodded down. "I probably wrote down the other guy's plate number if you look properly."

Kakashi now turned to look at Sakura and there was something in his eyes that she did not recognize. If it was hope or sadness, she couldn't be sure, there wasn't time to dwell on it. Sakura stood abruptly, Kakashi did the same and they both turned to the door, ignoring Mizuki's protests of when he would get his deal. Kakashi forged the path and she followed behind, he went straight to the empty observation room next door.

It was like watching a caged animal the way he paced around the room and glared out the window to Mizuki.

"What do we do now?"

She asked without thinking not noticing Kakashi's breaths coming out like short bursts of frustration. It was here that she recognized the shaking of his hands, the pale look on his face and the spark of madness in his eyes. She knew the signs of PTSD more than most people, and right now she was watching a man descend into that void. She could no longer stand and watch. Sakura stepped into the direct path of his pacing, he only managed to stop himself an inch in front of her, she placed her unbroken hand on his forearm and met his eye.

"Stop, Kakashi, breathe."

His eyes were wide and darting between hers, they were unrecognizable at the moment, a staunch contrast to the usual lazy gaze she now expected from him.

"He was there, Sakura, he saw him…"

"I know, I know what he said. But you need to calm down and think for a minute. We still don't know if we can trust anything this guy has to say, he's pure evil Kakashi, the way he was talking about Samantha Winters. We need to stay objective, stay on track."

She watched Kakashi close his eyes for a moment, felt the way his body stopped exhibiting that tense energy, and when they opened again they weren't the frenzied pupils she'd seen a few seconds ago. He took some deep, steadying breaths and Sakura slowly released her grip on his forearm, but kept close to be sure.

"We need to search that whole storage facility, we need to brief the Captain and send SWAT…"

"That's a good plan." Sakura was glad that his tone was more familiar, and also glad because she really didn't know the best way to proceed from here at all. Suddenly Mizuki was barely a blip on their radar.

"Let's find Tsunade, fast." They both headed for the door, Kakashi paused as his hand came down on the handle, looking back at her slightly. "Sorry that you had to see that…"

"See what?"

Sakura tried a sympathetic smile, an unwritten agreement between the two of them that she wouldn't mention his minor breakdown. Partners were meant to share the burden, and he had been by her side all night while her hand had been tended to.

"Thanks, Sakura."

From the sliver of his face that she could see from her position, she caught a glimpse of a smile in the shadows of the dark observation room. And it spread to her own face in an instant of understanding. They were beginning to understand each other. She just wondered how the Captain would take the news.

Kakashi took the reins this time in explaining it to Tsunade, barging unapologetically into her office and speaking before she could explode in anger. Before he'd even stopped talking Tsunade had the phone in her hand.

"So what you're telling me is that Mizuki was cleaning cars for the Akatsuki. That he let Samantha Winters know this detail so that she could secure a deal as an informant for Obito, that she told him about the Akatsuki lab, and he met someone there before his death."

"That's it, for some reason Obito went straight there instead of phoning for back up, or maybe he wasn't able to… I'm not sure. Mizuki seems to think that the lab will be cleaned out by now, we'll need to sweep the whole facility, and we still have no idea what they are actually cooking in that lab."

"I think I have the answer to that at least." Tsunade sighed, holding up a finger to silence them before dialling. "Ebisu, yeah it's Tsunade, I need the Commissioner now. I don't care if he's busy- what is he doing, watching those damned soap operas again? Well, if I'm right then patch me through before I come down there and kick your ass."

Sakura folded her arms and shifted her weight, while Kakashi didn't seem as agitated as before he was biting his bottom lip with his eyes on Tsunade. The Captain was able to explain what had transpired in a few short sentences, it appeared the Commissioner was already aware of some of the details of Samantha Winters case as it was.

"We've got a possible location on one of the Bijuu labs-"

"Bijuu? What's that?" Sakura muttered quietly to Kakashi.

"Class A narcotic, street name Bijuu, we've managed to confiscate samples but have had no luck in finding the dealers. Seems like the Akatsuki have been behind the drug all along."

"Strange name for a drug. What's it like?"

"High potency liquid speed, they call it Bijuu because it turns you into a beast, and it only takes one hit to be hooked." Tsunade answered Sakura as she hung up the phone. "Commissioner Jiraiya has agreed to a raid, I need you both in tactical gear in two minutes, you're to go in after the raid and find what you can. Haruno, you're on limited duty with that wrist of yours, will it be an issue?"

"No, Ma'am, not an issue."

"Good. Now, listen up, the both of you. Depending on the outcome of this raid it could mean big things for the precinct. The Commissioner and I have been waiting for any leads on Bijuu suppliers for some time, the drug has become a big problem for all of Konoha and we need to nip it in the bud before it expands to Suna. We've had 10 confirmed deaths in the past 2 months from Bijuu overdosage."

"What if Mizuki's information is false?" Kakashi interrupted. "He's a murderer, and we've no reason to trust him."

"That may be true." Tsunade sighed. "But it's a lead, and it's more than we've had before. We also have possible confirmation that the Kyuubi killer is a hitman for the Akatsuki, which we hadn't even considered before. Commissioner Jiraiya wants a task force formed against Bijuu and the Akatsuki, and depending on this raid, he wants you two front and center to lead the task force."

Kakashi and Sakura exchanged a quick glance at each other.

"Why would he want-"

"He wants you to lead it, because I want you to lead it. Kakashi, you've got the most knowledge of the Kyuubi killer, you're one of my best detectives. And Sakura, you've got the chemistry knowledge as well as a solid head on your shoulders, you're up to date with modern technology. It's one of the reasons I teamed you two up together in the first place. So, get moving, you're to meet the team on the street outside the facility."

"Before we go, Captain, Mizuki claimed there's a licence plate in his notes which is tied to the man that Detective Uchiha was last seen with."

"It can wait, give the book to Detective Shiranui if you must, but get moving, both of you."

Her tone was not to be argued with, they hightailed it to the equipment room where Kakashi geared himself in bullet proof vest and helped Sakura into hers, the wrist brace making it more awkward. They didn't speak much as they got ready, there wasn't time, it wasn't until they were both in the sedan that they were able to speak.

"I'm not sure if I'm ready to co-run a task force…" Sakura spoke honestly, it was just one of the thoughts spinning in her mind that she needed to expel.

"You want to be Captain one day, right?" Kakashi stated it matter-of-factly as he concentrated on the road.

"Well, yeah, I do."

"You do well at this then the sky's the limit, you could even make Commissioner. Just follow those instincts of yours, they've served you well so far."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Sakura, there's something about Mizuki's information that we need to discuss, and I know now isn't exactly the right time…"

"What about it?"

Kakashi's eyes were narrowed as he weaved through the traffic, Sakura gripping the door of the car with her good hand, she guessed that he was probably working out which words to say rather than concentrating on the road.

"The hot shot doctor that Sam was trying to get her mom in to see, the one that Obito was supposedly related to, do you think that it's connected to the Uchiha brothers you mentioned?"

Sakura swallowed thickly, wishing with all her might that her instincts were wrong on this occasion, but the thought festered quickly.

"I don't know what I think anymore, there aren't any coincidences in a murder investigation though, right?"

"What is your detective's gut telling you, Sakura?"

Her eyes drifted from the road ahead and to some fixed point on the dashboard, as if looking in this one place for long enough would anchor her own thoughts. She had agreed to tell Kakashi the truth, they had agreed on 50/50, and they had already caught one murderer.

"My guy tells me that one or both of them are involved, they got away with killing before, it wouldn't surprise me if they had tried again."

"What… are you talking about?"

"The Uchiha brothers were acquited after the murder of their parents. Motive was strong but there wasn't any physical evidence to connect them and too much reasonable doubt in the jury. Pricey lawyers and a rushed trial. they walked away and there's been no movement on the case ever since. It's one of the reasons I wanted to become a detective…"

Sakura could tell that Kakashi was less than impressed with her confession, that she had kept that information from him, but it hadn't exactly been pertinent to the case at hand.

"Do you have reason to believe they are guilty of their parents murders?"

"I do. I was dating one of them at the time."


	12. Chapter 12

If Kakashi wasn't concentrating so hard on making it to the storage facility in one piece he would have turned to interrogate Sakura with every ounce of his detective capabilities and years of experience. It was personal information, it hadn't been pertinent to the case, but he'd never been so close to having an actual suspect for these killings.

There was a persistent feeling that would not leave him, a feeling that he was missing something, it was like having an itch at the base of your spine that you can't satisfy no matter how you scratch it. There was also something telling him that it wasn't fair just to grill Sakura about something this sensitive, so far she had been understanding and helpful after all his failings, it was the least he could do for her.

That didn't mean he wasn't slightly irked by the situation.

"Can you give me an outline of the case? If it's not too..."

"Gladly, I would love your opinion on it to be honest. The parents, Fugaku and Mikoto, were both gunned down in their own home. For all intents and purposes it appeared to be robbery, the house was a mess, the gunner was waiting for them when they got home."

"Waiting for them? How do you know that?"

"Alarm on the house was turned off an hour and a half before the shootings, according to the security company. And this is where I'm bothered, that code was only known to family, even I didn't know it and I dated Sasuke on and off for years. So immediately your two best suspects are Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha."

"And their alibi's?"

"Itachi was a first year resident at Konoha General at the time. Sasuke and I were both still in medical school, we were at dinner with my parents when it happened. But you and I both know that doesn't mean they weren't involved."

"Sounds like you've thought about this a lot."

"Mmm. Not that anyone would listen to me at the time. I was just a med student, and a girl, and the only thing I had to go on was a feeling that I couldn't shake. I know they were behind it. The day after they died the brother's claimed insurance, the house was sold, suddenly Sasuke's grades improved dramatically. He gets the best placements, best apartments... it all just felt wrong."

"So you broke up with him after that?"

Sakura sighed and shifted uncomfortably.

"I wanted to help him at the time, I had my suspicions but I didn't want to be the monster who dumped her boyfriend after his parents deaths. It didn't matter though because that's how it came to pass at any rate. I just couldn't let it go, and something in Sasuke changed, it was like I didn't know him anymore."

"Sakura, are either of these brothers 'hot-shot doctors', would they have been able to help Samantha's mother like Mizuki claims?"

"Honestly, Itachi has a gift, he is an amazing doctor and surgeon. If anyone has a chance of helping her, it's him. Sasuke is.. well, he's a pale imitation with a chip on his shoulder."

Kakashi glanced over to his partner and watched a shadow pass over her face, it was a look he decided he never wanted to be on the receiving end of. All of this was pure conjecture at this point, there was no evidence, not yet anyway. He tried his best not to be so agitated with his partner about keeping that information to herself for so long when she had no real reason to tell him. But the thought festered none-the-less, when his eyes darted to her wrist splint he tried to remember that she was new, she had been hurt because of him too. And she wasn't holding that against him in any way, shape or form.

_Obito would have just moved on with the case and been grateful for the lead._

That was what Kakashi thought anyway, Obito wasn't exactly giving him any hints on what he should do.

"So, what do you think Kakashi? Worth looking into?"

Sakura's voice broke through the fugue.

"Maybe, your instincts are reacting for a reason, Haruno. But it'll have to wait until later, we're here."

There was a police cordon around the facility already, the shitty sedan was waved through without an issue, the car was infamous within the force. As was the detective behind the wheel. The crazy one who couldn't solve the case of his partner's murder. How was he to lead a task force when the whispers would follow him?

"Captain said to rendezvous with Ibiki Moreno, he's leading the operation. Sounded almost like Tsunade was going to come with us herself for a moment there."

"That'll be the day." The words slipped out before Kakashi could check them, Sakura watched him with narrowed eyes until the car was parked and he decided to elaborate. "Tsunade hasn't been in the field for a long time. Not since Captain Minato was killed in the line of duty."

She looked pensive but in pain at the same time, maybe it was confusion, but he doubted severely that there was anything that Sakura Haruno didn't understand.

"I remember when that happened, wasn't Tsunade up for the Commissioner's spot at the time?"

"Yeah she would have gotten it too, I think her dreams died with Minato, she withdrew after that and resumed her command of our precinct. Let's get moving, Haruno. If we find any drugs here we're in for a lot of work."

"Still not sure I'll be able to help run a whole task force..."

"I meant paperwork, Sakura, my first warning to you as a detective, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. Be grateful it's not drugs... is it really that bad?"

"If you have a kink for being buried under piles of paper and being trapped in a chair for twelve hours straight, then no it's not that bad."

She smiled and they both got out of the car, Kakashi taking a moment to steady himself, just speaking Minato's name aloud was hard on some days. For some reason it flowed naturally with Sakura and hurt just a little less than usual. It probably helped that they were potentially about to make the biggest drug bust in Konoha history.

Ibiki Moreno greeted them beside the facility's main office, a staunch and robust man, Kakashi had unfortunately met the man before. He was a no nonsense type, the kind that would write you up for making a joke or stepping a foot out of line. He'd had a small feud with Obito back in the day, and while Kakashi had never exactly stepped on the man's toes, he seemed to have unintentionally inherited that feud judging by the look on the man's scarred face. He was certainly not happy to see Kakashi.

"Detectives, pleased you could make it."

"Sergeant Moreno, any news?" Sakura couldn't have known Kakashi's thoughts, but she had formed a habit of gliding in and smoothing things over for him this week. He sorely hoped that it continued.

"We've got the place on lock down, no one in or out, swept the smaller upstairs units fairly quickly. Most of them weren't being used. According to the, uh, colorful receptionist, this tracks with her records. She indicated there had been some movement in the larger boat storage units out the back early this morning."

"You think they've cleared out already?" Sakura asked turning to Kakashi.

"Not sure. The issue being with the Akatsuki is that we have basically no information on how they operate, how they make or move the drugs is a mystery. Are the boat units monitored by CCTV?"

Ibiki nodded before answering.

"Tactical team phoned in that the cameras in that part of the facility had been knocked, so there are 3 doors in the blind spot."

"Start with those..." Kakashi was interrupted.

"You telling me how to do my goddamn job now, Hatake? Bit rich coming from a detective who hasn't made a single arrest in a whole year." Ibiki stepped closer to him, chest puffed like the overgrown gorilla that he was. "You've forgotten how to do your own job so you think you can just barge on in here and issue orders, well you've got another thing-"

"Excuse me, Sargeant." Sakura inserted herself between them before Kakashi's mind had even determined the best kind of come back, she placed her unbroken hand flat on Ibiki's chest and pushed him so that he staggered back a few steps. Her tone was no nonsense, an eerie imitation of Captain Tsunade, he couldn't see her face but imagined that she had a scowl to match. "While it's actually none of your business, Detective Hatake arrested a murderer this morning and tracked down leads on the biggest crime family of Konoha and the Kyuubi killer, it's not even 10am, Sergeant. What have you done with your day so far?"

She'd asked it like a genuine question so Ibiki made to respond, Kakashi almost felt sorry for the guy, _almost._

"Well-"

"Well, nothing. Just do your job, Sargeant, instead of complaining about it. Or would you like me to call the Captain and ask for her thoughts on the matter?"

The color drained from Ibiki's face and Kakashi may have even winced a little bit. The Sargeant nodded and promptly moved off to direct his subordinates, Sakura turned to face Kakashi, her face was impassive but her lips were just slightly pursed in displeasure.

"You don't need to fight my battles for me, Haruno, I'm perfectly-"

"Says the man who knocked out our suspect for hurting me. Get over yourself Kakashi, we're in this 50/50 and I don't want that asshole throwing a tantrum every time we cross paths, this way he'll think twice next time."

"I'm not sure you want to make enemies with Ibiki Moreno, the man is-"

"I know a tantrum when I see one, he'll eat something and calm down."

"Sakura, just listen to me." It came out with an edge of bitterness he hadn't intended, so much so that he looked over his shoulder to make sure that no one else had heard it. "I deserve it alright, that's just how cops are, he is trying to help me in his own way."

"By calling you out in front of others?"

"Yes, yes that's exactly it." Kakashi paused to collect himself, collect his thoughts before he said something that he would regret. "He's right, I haven't been on my game, I've been stalled for too long. It doesn't matter what kind of detective I used to be, I need to prove myself all over again... I've known for a while but I just didn't have the energy or the will to acknowledge it."

He wasn't sure where these words were coming from, it wasn't exactly the time or place for him to be opening up. But he needed Sakura to understand because her own safety was at stake. She was still naive enough to believe that cops were all on the same side. One day she would need back up, and men like Ibiki Moreno could ignore her call should he choose to do so. Kakashi sincerely hoped that this offer of the truth would not only calm her from acting so brashly, but show her the reality of the world she had entered. He knew her to be fiercely intelligent, and for Kakashi that would be her saving grace. She was a lot smarter than Obito had ever been.

"Got that right." Sakura spoke and Kakashi had a moment of panic that she may have been reading his very thoughts, but then she continued. "You haven't been on your game, but you have while I've been here. And that's all that matters to me."

They locked eyes, Kakashi wasn't sure what was passing between them or why it seemed to flatten the very atmosphere. The sounds of other officers, swat teams, everything else, all seemed to fade. There was a cold creeping up his hands and extremities, a feeling he only vaguely recognized as excitement, something that he hadn't felt in a long while, a feeling that he didn't think he was capable of anymore.

For the first time in a year, Kakashi was not only excited to be doing his job, but he was ready to make a difference.

"Detectives, if you're done talking, you might want to watch the raid on the monitor." Ibiki called from where he stood.

That concentrated stare was broken and they both walked over to the monitors. Ibiki was giving orders through a walkie talkie, Kakashi watching the screen from over his shoulder. There was a raid technique that he vaguely recognized being used, it helped that the screen was split between the cameras on two different officers.

Kakashi's focus was only on that screen and nothing else, wondering what lay in wait for them in those storage containers. As a veteran he knew not to get his hopes up, he knew that Mizuki's information could still be false, could you ever really trust a psychopath? He also knew that this situation could turn sour at the drop of a hat, his hand rested on the holster at his hip.

"On my count..."

The first unit was empty, Kakashi didn't realize that he had been holding his breath until his lungs were suddenly screaming for air. He was only just noticing the adrenaline coursing through his system, but he wouldn't indulge in calming himself until those units were all checked and everyone was safe. There was no way to tell what was on the other side of those doors, there could be ten, fifteen, twenty people in there. Things could turn ugly.

The units themselves were large enough to hold a couple speed boats or cars, dimly lit with one fluorescent light on the ceiling. Kakashi assumed that the layout would be the same for the other two units. Not exactly a warehouse for drug making, if that was indeed what was happening, but he'd seen meth labs in closets before. Drug makers always found a way with space.

The team had been given a master key to the units, but the second one they swarmed was waiting for them unlocked. Tactical only took two minutes to sweep the room and confirm that it was empty of any people, but from what Kakashi could see on the monitor, it wasn't completely empty.

The crackle of the radio confirmed Kakashi's theory.

"Sarg, send the detectives in. Over."

"Everyone telling me how to do my goddamn job, should have gone into private security when I had the chance... Copy that, over." Ibiki turned and nodded to Kakashi before speaking directly. "Well you heard the man, get in there."

The first thing to strike Kakashi was the smell, something like ammonia even before they came upon the opened door to the unit. Geared officers were standing all around, ushering them through quickly without so much as a word to what awaited them within.

Detective Hatake was previously renowned in his field for many reasons, he had achieved a few great deeds as an officer, but it was his penchant for being absolutely thorough that had built his career. Meticulous, cunning and methodical. At the entrance to that storage locker Kakashi somehow managed to slip back into that mindset of the great detective he had once been.

To him time was passing slowly, but in reality it could only have been seconds.

_Smell. _Ammonia, someone tried to clean up, other pungent chemicals must have been stored or created here for it to linger so heavily in the air.

_Sight. _One entrance, one exit, three steel benches in the middle of the room. Multiple power extension cables and dual outlets. Suitcases in one corner, opened boxes in another, small white bottles scattered on the floor.

_Sound._ Crunching underfoot, debris on the floor like plastic wrap, unit far from sound proof. It was hard to imagine a group of people being able to work in this enclosed space without drawing attention to themselves

It was suspicious enough and they had yet to call in the Drug team for testing.

"Should we be wearing masks for this?"

In all the adrenaline and thought processes Kakashi had completely forgotten that Sakura was even with him.

"Probably..." He answered halfheartedly.

"Here." Sakura withdrew a surgical mask from her pocket and held it out to him before fixing one to her own face.

"What kind of weirdo carries two masks around with them?"

"An attractive weirdo." Sakura winked. "Now, what have we got here."

Kakashi knew exactly what they were looking at without even entering the room fully. This had once been a drug lab alright, he'd been in enough to recognize one. When he bent down to examine the opened white bottle at his feet his instincts were confirmed, there was a smaller empty vial inside it.

"Tsunade said the drugs were in liquid form, right?" Kakashi was speaking to himself more than to Sakura who was now on the other side of the unit. "We've got to be looking for someone with a background in chemistry, liquid drugs are almost impossible to keep stable without proper knowledge and equipment. If that is what was being produced here..."

"They would need hospital laboratory grade equipment I imagine, let alone the resources to bottle it..."

"Hospital grade, huh." Kakashi's eyes narrowed and he looked toward Sakura. "I think I would like to have a better look at these Uchiha brothers when we get back."

Sakura didn't reply and for a moment he wasn't sure if she had even heard him. Maybe she had something to hide when it came to Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha, all his instincts were screaming that there was something that he was missing, and the biggest question of all was Sakura herself.

When the silence continued it became uncomfortable enough for Kakashi to stand and see what she was doing. Was she purposefully ignoring him?

He didn't expect to find her crawling on her hands and knees and examining the floor.

"I think I've found something..."

It seemed that every time Kakashi turned his back Sakura was finding more leads. Once upon a time his competitive nature would have shuddered at the thought of being outdone by a rookie detective on her fist week, but it only served to make him smile. He was glad that she was on his side.

"What is it?"

"I can feel a draft."

Kakashi wasn't about to get on his hands and knees, and he didn't have to. Following the structure of the roof with his eyes he noticed something that was different from the other storage unit. Unlike the others, the sole fluorescent light wasn't in the exact middle of the ceiling, almost like...

"There's a false wall."

"What?"

"False wall, on that side..." In a few short steps he was there, both palms against the cool metal. "It's being held in place by the vent on the ceiling, look... If I could just…"

Putting his weight into his knee, Kakashi pushed forward to dislodge the sheet of tin that was acting as a fake wall. The scraping noise and bang alerted the other police officers, they all filed in watching as Kakashi smacked himself into the metal. They probably thought he had finally lost what was left of his mind but he just didn't care, he knew that there was something here, and Sakura did too. She stood next to him, using her shoulder on her uninjured side to help push until it finally gave way with a clatter.

Kakashi was busy making sure that the sheet of tin didn't fall on top of his partner or himself, the last thing he wanted was stitches added to Sakura's injury list. By the time he set it down he could see the shock in Sakura's eyes and hear the murmurs of the police officers behind him. By the time he got a good view of the space that had been revealed he was squinting, as if the action could help him make sense of what he was seeing. Sakura was awkwardly trying to put a glove on her uninjured hand.

It was a crawl space no larger than a closet, thin and long, there were boxes stacked on one side. They had a logo on them which appeared to be a fish and something called 'Aquafin', Sakura was already opening one of them, it was filled with the white bottles that were littering the floor. Except these were labelled with the same fish logo that was on the boxes and the lids appeared to be sealed.

"Why would they try to hide aquarium cleaner?" Sakura mumbled while Kakashi retrieved his own gloves from his pockets and put them on.

"I don't think this is aquarium cleaner..." Kakashi picked up one of the bottles and turned it in his hands before opening it. "It's bijuu."

Attached to the lid in his hand was a small vial containing a yellowing liquid.

"Holy shit, Hatake, you actually managed to find some." Ibiki spat from the doorway, Kakashi ignored him.

"How much do you think we've got here, Sakura? Street value is about a hundred dollars a hit, we've got about... 120 bottles a box... how many boxes..."

"Fifty boxes, we've got $600k worth of drugs here."

"I guess that's worth a hundred hours of paperwork. I'll phone this in to forensics, get them to sweep the room and see what they can turn up. We need to get a move on this, talk to Mizuki again. Sergeant Moreno, can you have your guys check the rest of the facility and send the footage to the precinct?"

"Sure thing, Detective."

Kakashi tried to take in every detail of that crawl space, but it wasn't until one of the boxes was shifted that he saw something that sparked any interest. Tucked behind the boxes as if they had been thrown without much care was a pile of green fabric, it poked out from its spot on the floor and caught his eye. Specifically it held his interest because it was the exact same color as the surgical mask on his face.

Patting his pockets suddenly looking for something, Kakashi tentatively leaned toward Sakura and plucked the pen that was attached to her pocket. He moved too fast for her to really catch him at it, she may have made some sound in protest but he was already kneeling down and using the pen to shift the fabric into plain sight.

"Is that-"

"Those are hospital scrubs." Sakura sounded breathless in his ear as she knelt beside him. "Surgical scrubs."

"Detective Haruno, where did you get these masks from?" Kakashi removed the fabric from his face, watching Sakura's eyes widen as she turned to look at him.

"They were left over from when I worked at Konoha General..."


	13. Chapter 13

Sakura opted to be the one to inform Captain Tsunade on their findings once they were back at the precinct. She'd anticipated that her superior would be displeased that there had been no arrests, but it appeared as if Sakura didn't know the woman as much as she thought she did. Instead Tsunade sat back in her chair, smiling ever so slightly and lacing her fingers together, her eyes looking past Sakura and to the bullpen behind her.

"Excellent work, Detective Haruno. Commissioner Jiraya will be pleased that we finally have a sample of the drug."

"Detective Hatake was the one who found the hidden crawl space, m'lady, he's the one who should be getting recognition-"

"Yes, yes I know he's the one who found it. But I'm not ignorant to the fact that he would never have been back in the field in the first place if not for you. I'd been hoping for a long time that a new detective would rise up and restart that old bastard's head, but none of them were up to the challenge. But I knew you could do it, Sakura, excellent work."

"Thank you, Captain. How would you have us proceed?"

"Have a look at the records for that unit first, probably a waste of time but it needs to be done nonetheless, we have no listed aliases for the Akatsuki and I doubt they will reuse one but it's necessary. Is there anyway to actually trace those scrubs to the hospital they came from?"

"Probably not, but we'll make every effort to. I was hoping that forensics might be able to get DNA from them if possible..."

"Good idea, follow that up too. Also, you've got to file the report as soon as possible, I don't want you or Hatake leaving the building until it's filed and on my desk along with the arrest papers for Mizuki."

"Yes, Ma'am."

It was odd to see Kakashi working so hard at his desk, he had the phone receiver at his ear and his cellphone to the other. It was a stark contrast to the lazy detective she had met just a few days ago. The bullpen had also been shuffled while they were away this morning, now Sakura's desk was face to face with Kakashi's. By the time she sat down he'd hung up one of the phones.

"I'm on hold with the field office, I want to get those drugs transferred to Yamato as soon as possible but they aren't playing ball. How'd it go in there?" Kakashi asked, gesturing to the Captain's office behind Sakura.

"She's in a good mood, surprising since we made no arrests, she's asked for the reports by the end of the day."

Kakashi's eyes widened.

"End of the day? You've got to be kidding me- Oh, no not you Mrs. Raconteur, I wasn't... Yes I'll wait. Great, now it looks like I've got to wait another twenty minutes, if you piss off the field lab you're screwed- No I'm not screwing you, please don't hang- and she hung up." Kakashi dropped the cellphone to the desk while Sakura smirked quietly to herself.

"I'm going to run through the storage unit records for the alias that the Akatsuki might have used, Tsunade wants any and all information we can get, even if it isn't something they use again."

"Just make it quick, this paperwork is going to take all day and night if we're not careful. Are you sure you're up to it with that hand?"

"Yeah, it'll be fine."

It did still sting a little, but it wasn't as if it was strenuous activity, typing into the computer. Perhaps just a little cumbersome without full use of her fingers but she doubted that the work would take her much longer to complete. It was just the right kind of mind numbing exercise that she needed after the madness of this morning and yesterday. She'd been running off adrenaline and pure curiosity for the past couple of hours, and that energy was starting to wane. She made every attempt to reignite it with caffeine but it was a poor substitute.

She would have eaten something but her stomach was not sitting as it should. Was it pain, nervousness, a byproduct of running on empty for almost a whole week? Some combination of all of them perhaps, but more than anything it was a foreboding sixth sense that she couldn't place a name to.

It had festered with the thought that they were getting closer, and so far all signs pointed to an Uchiha, and Sakura had swore when she left medicine that she would never cross paths with them again. Not until she could prove what they had to have done all those years ago and bring them to justice. Pouring herself a coffee in the kitchen she made her way back to her desk with a surge of bitterness, just thinking about Sasuke made her angry sometimes.

She made the decision to try not to let it ruin her mind for the day, she had work to do, they had a murderer in holding and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of drugs sitting in evidence.

"Did you manage to get the evidence transferred, Hatake?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes, that's all done."

"What are you-"

"I'm looking at the Uchiha family murders actually. What's on file anyway, there isn't a lot here."

Sakura felt her blood run cold for a moment, it was a night she wished she could take back but no matter how hard she tried the clock would not move.

"What did you want to know? Maybe I can help."

Kakashi's eyes flicked to her for a moment before going back to the screen.

"See, that might be problematic, considering Sasuke used you as his alibi."

The bitter coffee had nothing on the surging bitterness that took hold of Sakura in that moment.

"Is my statement there?" She tried not to take it out on Kakashi but there was an edge to her tone that had seeped out beyond her control.

"No, it isn't. Ten years ago not everything was digitized, it'll still be in the physical folder somewhere. All I have here is the first detective's notes."

Sakura sighed deeply, trying to exhale that negative energy before it stuck to Kakashi and she said something that she would regret. Sakura had always told the truth about what had transpired that day, and today would be no different. She just hoped that her new partner wouldn't think any less of her.

"Five years, Sasuke and I were together, I knew his parents well, liked them a lot. In those five years Sasuke very rarely went out in public with me, not to a party, not to the grocery store. He was... well, he was something else. Couldn't see it back then, unfortunately. That night his parents died, he suddenly turns up on my doorstep at my apartment, makes a big show about taking me out to dinner. My room mates thought it was weird too, but I thought, maybe he had decided to change for the better, y'know..."

"I take it he hadn't changed..."

"He had in a way, he was unrecognizable from the boy I met in school and fell in love with. Suddenly he was only thinking of himself and his own career, and anyone else was a stepping stool he could use to get it. That night he acted the perfect gentleman, which was also odd because his parents had cut him off a couple months earlier. He took me back to their house to have coffee with them, and that's when we saw the police cars, saw the blood everywhere."

Out of reflex the bile began to rise in her throat, she had seen so much blood in her time as a surgeon, she'd seen her fair share of death as well... But there was something about seeing the trail of blood that lead to someone that she had cared for. And seeing that red demonic look in Sasuke's eye, something she had described to the police at the time but no one would listen. She understood that a look could mean anything and nothing, it wasn't hard evidence that they could go off, but it had frozen her so completely that it couldn't mean nothing.

She knew what those instincts were now, Kakashi had shown her what they were. It was her Detective's gut guiding her to a puzzle piece that didn't fit, some clue that needed to be found and was calling to her.

"So he had motive, was there anything to tie him to the crime scene?"

"No, and despite my protests, the detective's really couldn't find anything tangible on either brother. The house alarm code was only known by them, it couldn't have been anyone else, it was someone close to the family. Sasuke and Itachi... well they became monsters after that."

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe monster is the wrong word, elitist, too good for any of us. The insurance pay out put them at the top of everything. Sasuke paid his way through school, both he and Itachi came out of med school with zero debt and the best placements in all of Konoha. Something just didn't sit right with me, but no one would listen, I was just some girl he used as an alibi. It didn't matter how much research I did into the case... and that was when the calls started."

"Calls?"

"Threats, from Itachi specifically, telling me to leave them both alone and get as far away from them as I could."

"Did you report it?" The expression on Kakashi's face was an odd mixture of concern and annoyance that she couldn't quite place.

"I did. Repeatedly. Much to the annoyance of an detective I could get on the phone. But nothing happened."

"It says here that they were both brought before a judge separately but were both acquitted... They accused each other?"

"The best lawyers money could buy, everything was quashed, I wasn't even aware of that detail until much, much later. But it was all conjecture, no evidence of a pay off, not forensics tying them to the scene, both of their alibis proved to be can't arrest someone based on the testimony of a co-conspirator after all. Then the case went cold and we all moved on, it just never felt right to me, I wanted... well I wanted the truth."

"Of course, I know how that feels, trust me." Kakashi offered her a look which was full of sympathy, at least she liked to think that it was, she still couldn't exactly read him 100%.

Sakura went to work on the tasks before her, trying to focus intently on what she was doing and nothing else. She wanted this report to be especially thorough as it was her first as a detective, she wanted to make sure everything was flawless so that Mizuki couldn't find a way to worm himself out of a harsh sentence. They may have agreed to a deal but it didn't mean that he would ever be a free man. Not if she could help it. Whatever Kakashi was doing she couldn't see from this angle, but he was intently looking at the screen, writing things down in a folder at his side.

It was just unfortunate that Kakashi had not been exaggerating when he said that drug cases incurred extra paperwork. Every single spec of evidence was measured and counted into the system to be signed off by everyone who had entered the premises. But there was light at the end of the tunnel for Sakura, while her search engine was running data on the names 'Hebi' and 'Shukaku' she continued to write her report with every detail she could remember. It was sometime after lunch before she got close to finishing and the call of her stomach was louder than her will to finish the task at hand.

"Almost done, did you wanna grab some lunch now Hatake?"

"What do you mean, 'almost done'?" He deliberately mocked her tone. "How can you even be close to finishing, that's insane..."

"How can you not be close to finishing? We've been doing nothing but writing these damn things up since we got back to the precinct."

"I don't believe you, let me see it..." Kakashi stood up, rather petulantly, and rounded the desk to stand behind her. "Holy shit, what the hell is this... are you a wizard?"

"No, I'm just using the digital precinct program instead of doing it manually like you are. You know it takes a quarter of the time to file a warrant if you do it through this, right?"

"You've got to be shitting me."

Sakura tried not to laugh.

"No, I'm not. You seriously don't know how to use this? You just type your badge number and PID into the bar, enter a password. It even gives you a forwarding option so that it's privately emailed to whoever you're working the case with, or your superiors, see?"

She made a show of clicking around the screen for his benefit so that he could actually see what she was talking about. The way his draw dropped and stayed that way for a while had to be Sakura's favorite part of the whole thing.

"I don't think I've ever logged into this before... I've just been using the Konoha PD database and filing the reports by hand..."

"Let's have a look."

Sakura turned and squinted at the numbers on Kakashi's badge that was fixed to his belt. It wasn't as shiny and new as hers, but it had seen some action and deserved the same respect she showed hers. Typing the numbers in an option came up to make a password for the account, confirming that he had in fact never logged into it before. With a smirk Sakura started typing.

"Did you just... make my password? That's extremely unprofessional. Thanks by the way, what is it?"

"Sakura-is-better-than-me, all lower case, one word."

"Ha ha, very funny but you didn't type that much, smart ass."

"You're right, well done, Detective. It's Pakkun69, I figure at least you won't forget that one. And yes, my ass is smart, thank you for admitting it."

Kakashi made an exhaling sound which could be construed as a stifled laugh. What appeared next on the screen was a list of all cases that had been touched by Detective Kakashi Hatake, and the sheer volume on the screen had Sakura blinking hard. At the very top was Samantha Winters case number PO83682.

"Well I'll be damned. It's got everything in there, huh?"

"Everything you've filed from this precinct. If you were to change to another then you'd have to use the PD database, but it doesn't hold the hard copies of scans. It should, it's going to be one of the first things I change when I become Commissioner."

"So you're aiming for the top job now, huh? Interesting." He lazily strolled back to his chair, Sakura took her time being nosy at his impressive arrest record before logging out and back in as herself.

Kakashi didn't seem to be interested in lunch though, he was on his computer, typing furiously and not even looking at his keyboard. It was like he was in a trance. The peace allowed Sakura to finish all of her report, she stretched in her chair and shook out the one hand that had been working away without break.

"You're finished, aren't you? That's so unfair, I only just worked out I could log into this stupid thing-"

"You only figuring it out now, Hatake? That's pathetic."

A deep voice spoke from over her shoulder, she turned slightly to see another Detective looking down at her with a wink before snapping his attention back to Kakashi. He had shoulder length hair, a toothpick in his mouth, a very large weapon on his hip. Complete with a leather jacket it made him 'cool' by the usual characteristics, the jury was still out on whether Sakura thought much of him though.

"Detective Haruno, this is Detective Genma Shiranui, make sure you're up to date on all your shots before you shake his hand."

"Very funny, old man, all that fresh air in the field finally wake up that brain cell of yours? Anyway, yeah, call me Genma. Hope this bastard hasn't got any more of your bones broken."

"Why don't you swallow that toothpick, Shiranui, so that we don't have to listen to your shit. Some of us have work to do."

"It's been so long since you did any real work, Hatake, you don't even know how. That online precinct has been around for a year, idiot, you never even logged into it-"

Kakashi hadn't been looking at Sakura or Genma, despite the volley of insults, he'd been concentrating on the screen. Until he abruptly stood and grabbed his jacket, his eyes quickly darting to Sakura, he spoke while he was already storming toward the elevator.

"I'm getting some air."

Sakura swallowed thickly, Detective Shiranui deciding to sit on the corner of her desk.

"Looks like the problem took itself out, nice to meet you, Haruno was it? You're far too pretty to be a detective you know that, I heard you used to be a nurse, I would've liked to see-"

As he spoke Sakura very slowly stood up from her chair, Genma continued to talk but she was not in the mood to listen. With her right boot she stamped down _hard _on Shiranui's dirty sneaker, he bent over in pain but Sakura had already grabbed the skinny excuse for a tie he was wearing with her good hand. She drew him in close to her face, enjoying the wince of pain on his features.

"Listen good, Genma. I promised not to fight my partner's battles for him, but you piss him off, you piss me off. And I was a doctor, jackass, so I can hurt you and make sure others can't tell. Got it?"

"Understood..." he gulped out.

"Understood...?"

"Ma'am, understood Ma'am."

"Better. It's Detective Haruno to you. Now scoot."

She released his tie, watched him adjust it before he limped away. Sakura folded her arms in satisfaction. It might not have been subtle, or professional, but damned if she was going to let these punk men ruin the progress she and Kakashi had been making. On the case and on their partnership, hell even Tsunade had said...

Sakura paused, realizing exactly what, or who was standing behind her. In the doorway to her office Captain Tsunade was standing with her arms folded and a brow quirked in Sakura's direction. She turned and tried to stand in a way that exudes innocence, but it was all for naught, the Captain simply nodded her approval with a smile before disappearing back into her office. Sakura fought the impulse to laugh before she sat, it was reassuring to know that another woman had her back.

Despite her hunger, it wasn't Sakura's stomach that pulled her away from her desk, but the constant vibrating of a phone. It was Kakashi's, he'd left it behind, likely because he'd been in such a hurry to get out of the place. When it didn't stop, Sakura stood and took a look at the screen, _Yamato. _She looked around before she decided to answer it.

"Hatake's phone."

"Either Kakashi has hired a sexy secretary or that is you, Detective Sakura."

"Yes, we really should stop meeting like this, Yamato. What have you got for us?"

"Well, I've got the preliminary test results for the bijuu that you confiscated, definitely high potency liquid speed. The good stuff. I also have a match for the tools you guys gave me, to the damage to Samantha Winter's skull. You can go ahead and arrest that asshole for murder if you haven't already, there's enough here to get him."

"Thanks, Yamato. He's in booking already, basically confessed as soon as Kakashi punched him in the face."

There was a heavy exhale from the other end of the line.

"I wish you were joking but I know him too well unfortunately. Where is he now? Did Tsunade beat him to a pulp?"

"Not quite, he's just gone out for air. Think he was a bit pissed that I finished my report before him."

"That's not hard, it takes him forever to do anything since he refuses to use technology to file his reports, he doesn't even have a log in…"

"He does now. Had to give him a crash course in how to use it, but he's been typing stuff up all morning."

"That's… actually amazing. I'm impressed, Sakura. Hey listen, I know he's put in a DNA transfer to Axiom for this pair of scrubs you guys found, but I'm not sure the tech and I can get it done all today-"

For some reason, Sakura didn't want to wait, this case was a high priority for her, for Kakashi, for the Captain and the whole of Konoha. Without a plant in hand she wasn't quite sure how to strong arm Yamato into putting in the work before the end of the day, until she remembered a small and innocuous detail from the first time she had met Yamato. Something that she had meant to ask Kakashi about but hadn't remembered to do so.

"You really don't think you can manage it today, _Tenzo?"_

"How… do you know that name… Oh, dear lord what has Kakashi told you? It's all lies, I swear, just don't tell anyone else what you saw-"

"Saw? Is there something to see?"

"No, no there isn't! Fine I'll work overtime! Just don't look into it anymore, okay?"

"Thank you, Tenzo…"

"Don't call me that where other people might hear it!" Yamato sighed deeply. "You've only been working with Kakashi for a couple of days and you're already turning into a demon like him. He is such a bad influence…"

"Oh, I don't know about that, maybe I was bad to begin with?"

"With pink hair like that? Yeah, sure."

"Why are you guys so obsessed with the hair?"

"Do you dye it that way or is it natural? Is it a wig-"

"Goodbye, Yamato." Sakura slid her thumb on the screen and hung up on him mid sentence.

She didn't realize that at some point during that conversation she had sat down in Kakashi's chair. Now she sat staring at the lock screen to his phone and she suddenly felt a lump in her throat. The picture was a familiar sight, but that wasn't what caused her heart to ache for the man. It was a picture of Obito's grave, that name bold across the marble, the picture must have been taken when the grave marker had been placed. Sitting next to it on the grass was a small tuft of fur which was the same color as Pakkun.

Sakura had long trained her emotions to be under her control, so she was able to rein in the tears that welled unexpectedly in her eyes. The man was so hopeless, he really was. He would torture himself to an early grave if he didn't find out what happened to Obito. With that thought, Sakura pocketed his phone and stood, she bumped the mouse to his computer and the screen lit up. He'd been in such a hurry he hadn't even logged out of the cases he had been looking at.

She hovered over the icon to close the tab but stopped herself. What met her eye was a wall of text, a list of cases, that all belonged to a different badge number. It wasn't hers, or Kakashi's, but it did belong to Obito Uchiha.

With a sigh and a tutt she shut the screen off, stomped over to her own chair, grabbed her coat and left.

And Sakura knew exactly where to find him.

A brisque walk in the cold and she had reached the dark arched entrance to the cemetery. Before she was even passed the gate she could see the white shock of hair that belonged to Kakashi. He stood exactly where he had been a few days earlier, with the same look on his face and a sadness in his eyes. The kind of sadness one sees in the eyes of an animal, not because he's hurt or suffering from anything in particular, but a kind of elemental sorrow for the nature of things. She approached with caution.

"You found me."

"I did. You left your phone back at the precinct." She held it out for him to take. "Tenzo called."

"Did you call him that?"

"Yes. It was the only way to get him to fast track the evidence…"

"Nice. You catch on fast…"

HIs voice was distant, his posture hunched over ever so slightly, like he was being weighed down by something. When he took the cellphone from her hand their eyes met and it was a look that she didn't recognize. If she could compare it to anything she would say it was the same look as when Tsunade or Kakashi didn't have an answer to a puzzle. It was confusion, but something else as well.

It felt like she was being studied.

"We should get something to eat before we head back…" Sakura tried to shift the focus away from her, she felt so utterly scrutinized in just a short moment it was unsettling. Kakashi finally shifted his gaze back to Obito with an imperceptible nod. "Are you alright?"

"Just realized I didn't have time this morning to visit, that's all."

"You visit every day?"

"Well, yeah. It's the only thing I can do for him now, apart from catching the killer." Kakashi's voice was soft, as if he were afraid that others were listening. His gaze switched back to Sakura and for a moment she felt unnerved, until he spoke again. "What do you feel like eating?"

She smiled.

"Anything that isn't fried."

"No promises there, Haruno."

Kakashi sighed, his hands in his pockets before he turned and looked toward the exit. For a minute Sakura thought that he would suggest somewhere to eat or make some comment about how eating salad was for rabbits and not grown men. Instead he appeared… nervous.

"Sakura, can I ask you something?"

It was disconcerting.

"Of course."

"Why didn't you tell me?" The question hung in the air between them, Sakura scrambling to figure out just what he was referring to, whatever it was held a weight of importance. The confusion must have shown on her face. "The Sargeant you treated, the one who told you to become a detective… Why didn't you tell me it was Obito?"

Sakura blinked, as if the action would allow her to form some kind of coherent answer quickly. Kakashi waited patiently while the cogs whirred slowly in her mind, finally deciding on the truth, which she knew he needed to hear.

"Well, at first I didn't realize it was him, I didn't remember. But the more I saw his face around the precinct and heard his name, the more I remembered, and the more awkward it became to just… bring up. And then, well, I didn't want you to get it in your head that it was fate that brought us together, I didn't want you to credit the universe for the hard work it took for me to get here."

"Sakura, no one who has ever worked within a mile radius of your brilliant mind could give any credit to fate. You're a brilliant detective, and I know that." Kakashi smiled, and it changed his face so completely that it was beguiling. "You'll be almost at my level of brilliance in no time, just stick with me a little while longer."

She snorted before she laughed.

"Very funny, when I get as senile as you then it really will be up to the universe to save me." She remembered the list of Obito's cases on Kakashi's screen. "You were looking into Obito's old cases?"

"Yeah, I was looking for the Akatsuki aliases or Samantha Winters's name, but I stumbled across yours instead. Threw me for a minute there, I must say, you're a tricky one to read, Haruno."

"And you're a regular Agatha Christie novel, Hatake. Can we go eat now?"


	14. Chapter 14

The sound of the customary 10am alarm echoed through the hallway of his apartment, but Kakashi had long been awake. He'd already eaten, made coffee, dressed and walked Pakkun round the block in the form of a long forgotten ritual that had ceased the moment Obito had left this world physically. It had all come back to him with a rush of nostalgia and something else he might describe as peace.

After a year of wallowing in the self doubt and turmoil that had clung to him, Kakashi's mind was finally clear. Still assured in his conviction that he would not rest until Obito's murderer was caught, but now he knew that he could also rely on others to help him, and to do it he needed to be on top of his game. It had started so gradually this week Kakashi couldn't place when it had happened, but at some point the voice of Obito in his mind had quietened, and it had been replaced by his own thoughts, and the words of his new partner.

Just a few days ago the very idea of that would have sent him into a panic but something had changed in the last 24 hours specifically. And it had come from Obito himself, not the vague memory of him that Kakashi had tried to keep alive, but in Obito's own words, in a case file from years earlier.

It was a case about a serial rapist in Konoha that had been narrowed down single-handedly by the work of an amazing doctor, Sakura Haruno. Obito had quoted her statement word for word in his own arrest report and added a single handwritten sentence at the end of it.

_Couldn't have said it better myself._

It was all that needed to be said for Kakashi to finally allow himself reprieve from the guilt at forgetting his former partner and what he meant to Kakashi. Part of Obito lived on in him, in all the detectives of the precinct and the work they were doing together. With that thought in mind, Kakashi began work on the next step in the case, transporting the entirety of his work to the task force headquarters at the precinct. This task force too would keep the memory of Obito alive, they would bring people to justice in his name, in his honor.

A day earlier, with a lump in his throat, Kakashi had stood over Obito's grave and apologized one last time. It hadn't been his regular apology, the mantra he recited to the granite slate every single day, but something new. An apology and a promise, that though he could never be replaced as a friend and as a partner, Kakashi needed to move on. For the good of those around him and for the city of Konoha itself. He would use everything that he and Obito had been through together as the foundation for his new partnership with Sakura, and who knew what heights they could achieve.

Kakashi knew that it's what Obito would have wanted, and for the first time he didn't need to hear that voice in his head to confirm it.

When all their respective paperwork had been done, Kakashi and Sakura had been briefed on the formation of the task force. Or rather, _task forces. _A decision had been made in light of the new evidence on the relation between the Kyuubi killer and the Akatsuki, that the two were likely connected. So Tsunade had managed to connive (in her infinite wisdom) not only a task force for the capture of the Akatsuki, but a smaller dedicated team focussed on catching the infamous Kyuubi Killer.

Detectives Kakashi Hatake and Sakura Haruno to lead the charge against the serial killer, and to aid in the work of the larger task force. The lightness of his chest meant one thing, excitement. He really couldn't wait to get to work, and although it was tinged with sadness and the loss of Obito, Kakashi finally felt like he was on the right track to solving his murder.

_And if it's not the right track, Sakura will set me straight. _

As if she were actually an omnipotent force, there was a knock at the door and a call of 'I'm coming in'. Sakura had warned that she would turn up on his doorstep if he were late, and here she was like clockwork. They were both a lot more rested from the weeks exhaustion, late nights and broken wrists, but the show must go on.

"You really should lock your door y'know…" Sakura said as she crouched down to pet an excited Pakkun, Kakashi regarded her over his shoulder as he took down the second to last clipping from the wall.

"It was unlocked for a reason, I knew you'd turn up eventually."

"I half expected you to still be in bed to be honest, looks like you've been busy though…" When she straightened she looked at him, filled with concern, but it was misplaced.

"It's time." He said plainly and with an added suredness.

"Who knew there were walls and windows behind all that paper, the place looks... almost nice."

"What do you mean? I've got the overworked bachelor aesthetic down perfectly." As if agreeing with his master, Pakkun made a bork of approval from his spot on the floor.

Sakura shook her head and reached for the last clipping on the wall, the newspaper page with the picture of Obito in full uniform. Kakashi wasn't sure he imagined the tentative way that her fingers removed the pins from the wallpaper. She was treating that paper with a reverence that he couldn't help but appreciate. When it was down she held it out for him to take, it didn't belong in the box of other papers that related to the case, however it did belong with Kakashi.

Placing it on the table, Kakashi stood back to admire his handy work, the wallpaper now had patches where the light had bleached what it had been able to touch.

"Looks pretty bare now. Got something you can hang up in that gap?"

"The last thing this place needs is a woman's touch, Haruno, don't you go renovating anything... You are unfortunately right though, wow that looks boring as hell, I don't want to stare at a blank wall. Hold on, I might be able to find something."

Kakashi left Sakura in the living room doting on Pakkun and entered the dark confines of his bedroom. Just because he was allowing natural light in his living space didn't mean it needed to be throughout the whole apartment. There wasn't much to this room either, just a musty old bed that he'd had since making Detective, the rest was bookcases. They were filled with anything and everything, the remnants of the database he'd been trying to create long ago in order to better the precinct. The fruits of his labor were carefully memorized and kept in handwritten notebooks on one of the shelves. Next to these, under a pile of dust, were two frames that had been relegated there exactly a year ago, ripped from the living room wall to make way for his 'work'.

It was time to return them to their spot.

"That's better." Kakashi mumbled while brushing the dust from the glass. A sudden and unexpected flash of light caused him to wince, he turned petulantly to find Sakura opening the curtains. "Did anyone ever tell you not to walk uninvited into a man's bedroom, Haruno? People could get the wrong idea..."

"By people you mean Pakkun obviously, it's pretty clear no one else comes to your apartment. Are you part vampire? Is that why you're so pale and the curtains are all shut?"

"Ha ha very funny."

"So what have you got there?"

He tilted the frames slightly so that she could see them, one was a picture of the original squad. Kakashi looking less than impressed at the side of the frame, Obito grinning wildly with one arm around him and the other around Rin. Captain Minato smiling and looking exceptionally tired of all the bullshit that his best uniformed officers liked to bring to the precinct every day.

"That's a sweet photo, what's this one?"

"It's a clipping, before you roll your eyes, at least this one is framed."

"Wait, is this you and Obito with Mayor Hiruzen?"

"Yeah, might have been before your time, do you remember the bomb that was found at Konoha University?"

"Yeah, I was in one of my final lectures and we were evacuated to the quad."

"It was such a stupid thing really, we had all but given up searching, checked every vent and duct with the bomb squad but there was too much ground to cover. Just about to declare it a hoax, and Obito gets hungry, bastard was always snacking on something. Thing was, the vending machine wasn't paying out the goods, Obito gets mad and starts babbling, I get irritated enough to take a look at the thing. Low and behold, there's a bomb wedged between the shelves stopping the snacks from dropping. Completely ridiculous that we were saved by Obito's sweet tooth."

"You say that it was ridiculous but you're still smiling like an idiot, so it can't have been too bad."

His expression had indeed betrayed him. That night he and Obito had both received commendations from the Mayor was in the smaller stockpile of his happier memories. It had been the pinnacle of their early career, the case that had propelled them into earning their detective's shields. The nostalgia came with a bitter taste but it was only for a moment, there was no time to dwell on misery with Sakura at his side, pestering him.

"Hurry up, let's get these up on the wall and get back to the precinct. You've got a presentation to make for the task force."

"Don't you mean, _we've_ got a presentation to make?"

"You're the one who did all the recon work on the Kyuubi Killer, Hatake, this is your case."

"It used to be my case, now it belongs to the both of us. 50/50 Haruno, remember?"

Sakura had taken one of the frames and began to march back to the living room, Kakashi following behind, it looked an awful lot like a tantrum. It also bore an uncanny resemblance to what he referred to as the 'Tsunade war dance', it meant trouble for someone down the line. She continued to ignore him while aggressively holding up the frame to certain parts of the wall, muttering under her breath. Kakashi wasn't exactly sure how best to proceed, he didn't know her well enough just yet to assume anything, Pakkun exchanged a sympathetic and perplexed look with him.

"Fine." She finally announced to the wall. "I'll help you run it, but only because you're my partner, and only because I know this case hits close to home for you. No other reason."

"This would be a great starting step to becoming a captain, y'know..."

"But I want to become Captain, and Commissioner, on my _own _merits, Kakashi. I want to get the job because of all the work I've accomplished, not from riding on the coattails of my partner when he's done 80% of the work-"

"Sakura, _I... _I need your help." The words stumbled from his mouth without much thought behind them, Kakashi wasn't even sure himself of how or why they had decided to appear. For some reason it just seemed like the right thing to say to his partner. "I don't think I can do this without you, I'm not the detective I once was, my reputation isn't what it used to be after this year... They might not listen to me at all... But you, well I can't imagine anyone ever saying no to you."

She studied him for a long minute, her eyes narrowing in concentration before a small smile played on the corners of her mouth.

"Fine, I'll help. You're a real sweet talker, Hatake, it's going to get you into trouble one of these days."

"I trust that the trouble will be coming from you?"

"Yes, you can ask Detective Shiranui exactly what kind of trouble to expect..."

Kakashi was only certain of one thing when it came to Sakura Haruno, that she would never react in a way that he could predict. She was of the same ilk as the Captain, ballsy, she knew what she wanted and she wasn't going to compromise her views to get it. He couldn't place exactly what he'd expected her to say in this situation, women like Tsunade were a rare and powerful force, and just like a typhoon it was difficult to tell just how much damage there would be in the aftermath.

With the frames safely in their new positions on the wall there wasn't a lot of time for him to sit back and appreciate how new his apartment felt. Despite the brace on her wrist Sakura tried to lift one of the boxes containing the papers from the wall. With some protest she finally acquiesced, letting Kakashi take them while she locked the door. They had fallen into an odd arrangement, he was meant to be the senior detective looking after the new rookie, but outside of the precinct it certainly felt like the other way around. If it were anyone else he might've felt some shame about that fact but he knew that Sakura wouldn't let him,

The ride to the precinct was the usual debate with Sakura as to his skills behind the wheel and their existence. His heart wasn't really in the game however, mentally he was preparing for exactly what he would say to the hastily formed task force. He'd been able to provide some names to the Captain for selection, but after a year out of the game himself, Kakashi wasn't so sure any longer that they would be up to the job. That nervousness must have showed on his face or in his body language, Sakura had picked up on it by the time they had parked the car at the precinct.

"You're going to do fine, Kakashi."

"If you say it then it must be true."

Kakashi Hatake wasn't exactly a man to believe in omens or fate, despite the occupation that he held and the things that he had seen in that time. Logic and reasoning had always been the higher forces in his mind and it had served him well enough so far.

There were, however, a couple things that found a way to defy logic. And as soon as he entered the bullpen, one of those things came bounding up to him and enveloped him in tn a tight hug. He could tell by the hair cut just who the man was, and that was the only thing that saved his arm from being broken.

"Kakashi, it's so good to finally see you again old friend!"

Sakura appeared to be reaching for the holster at her hip so Kakashi had to motion that he was alright.

"Gai, it's not like I've been anywhere. What are you doing here? You've only been undercover for two months..."

"I put in that transfer a year ago, and when it finally comes through you've got a new partner that isn't me?! What kind of madness is th- oh, is that her?"

Sakura had already walked past them and to her desk, Kakashi might have imagined that she was rolling her eyes.

"Yes, that's her. Now answer my question, aren't you meant to be undercover?"

"Operation was abandoned, intell was false, and then I was pulled to this precinct- She's pretty..." The last part was said quietly as if he hadn't meant to say it out loud but it had come out of its own accord.

For a second Kakashi's instincts were telling him to pull Gai's focus back to the conversation he had been trying to have. But something passed in his mind, a glint of mischief, clearly Obito was acting through him today. It was probably a bad idea considering what he knew of Sakura, but some ideas were worth the risk.

"Super pretty, you should tell her that, I'm sure she'd like it."

"Really? Thanks, I'll-"

"Hatake! Where the hell have you been? There's only five minutes until the first meeting, everyone is waiting for you in the conference room." Tsunade boomed from the door to her office.

It was show time, Kakashi would have to wait until later to see if his bad idea bore any fruit. At a first glance the conference room was filled with the usual suspects, plus a few uniformed officers that he didn't recognize. They had presumably already been updated on the Akatsuki task force, and these were the dregs that were willing to aid with the capture of the Kyuubi Killer. Kakashi was expecting this, expecting his peers not to think so highly of him, and for now he just didn't care. He would let his work speak for him

With five minutes to prepare he went about emptying the box of the contents that had once lined the walls of his living room. Sakura came in to help, a few stragglers trickled in soon after. It became very clear to Kakashi that five minutes would not be enough to have the exact layout of the case and the precise order he'd constructed back at his apartment. The sneers of officers behind him were only heard for a short while, he figured that they'd all just left the room until he was finished setting up, but when he turned around Kakashi was in for another surprise.

When he turned to face the room of officers and detectives that would be his task force he found two dozen faces staring at the wall of clippings and printouts. They were silent and eyeing the evidence before them with the same reverence that Sakura had given it when she had seen it for the first time. Kakashi had never been one to believe in omens or fate, it was true, but he couldn't help but believe that Obito meant more to these people than just another officer. Kakashi wasn't the only one who keenly felt his loss.

"This", Kakashi spoke while everyone was still silent, "This is everything I've been able to research on the Kyuubi killer's victims in the last twelve months. Read it, familiarize yourselves with it, Detective Haruno has been able to digitize some of it.. Up until this week it was everything that we had on the killer, but as I'm sure you're all aware, we arrested one Mizuki Tsubaki for murder and corpse desecration-"

"What's that got to do with the Kyuubi Killer?" Came an impatient voice from the back of the room.

"Save your questions until the end of Detective Hatake's address, please." Sakura sounded so much like Tsuande that you could see a few officers actively shudder. It had the desired effect and the room fell silent again.

"As I was saying, in the process of that investigation we came across this." He reached into his jacket and withdrew Mizuki's notebook, something he'd taken habit of carrying with him at all times. "The information collected and given by the suspect allowed us to make a raid on an Akatsuki storage unit, but it appears as if he also witnessed the abduction of Officer Uchiha and perhaps even followed the killer for some time..." There was a tittle amongst the officers of quiet awe, but Kakashi continued undeterred. "Which leads us to the next thing, we have reason to believe that the Kyuubi killer is operating as hit man for the Akatsuki. This task force has been formed to aid in the investigation and capture of the Kyuubi Killer while also providing assistance to the main task force. I will now field questions."

A hand began to rise slowly from the middle table.

"How is the Kyuubi killer linked to the Akatsuki?"

"Officer Uchiha was last seen alive at the storage facility of the Akatsuki that was raided yesterday, he had been acting on information he gained indirectly from Mizuki. All other victims have ties to organized crime in some way, originally we thought the killer to be some kind of vigilante ritualistic psychopath, but the evidence suggests that Mizuki may have even come into contact with the killer at some point." Kakashi was trying to sound as professional as he could make himself, but he was out of practice.

"What is Mizuki's ties to the Akatsuki? Can we trust him to give an accurate description?"

Sakura then took over.

"Mizuki Tsubaki was acting as personal valet for the Akatsuki he had dealings with one individual under the code name, Hebi, who may or may not have been a fence for illegal activity. Cleaning up cars that had been used in crimes and selling them on, Mizuki claims that all the cars were different." Some officers were taking notes as she spoke. "Ask around with your CI's and see if they are familiar with the code name, a general description has been included in the case file. Mizuki took dates and times of some of these exchanges, we're doubtful that we'll recover any footage from the storage units to substantiate his claims."

"Has the profile for the killer been updated?"

"We're working on that now with consultants," Kakashi found his voice again. "Thanks to our own doctor, Detective Haruno, we have reason to believe that the Kyuubi killer may have professional knowledge of the human body with a checkered history, perhaps with animal cruelty or abuse." The questions ran quiet, there wasn't a lot more to cover in this initial meeting without the plans for individual tasks written up yet, that was another job he'd have to do today. But Kakashi steadied his breath for the most important piece of knowledge. "The Kyuubi killer is dangerous, has taken one of our own, so I implore you all to take your personal safety seriously. Anyone caught acting on their own without backup or partner will be removed from the task force. Am I clear?"

There was a small murmur. Sakura cleared her throat.

"Yes, sir." The response was loud and uniform, Kakashi glanced at his partner briefly and caught the terrifying expression on her face, he didn't think he'd be so fond of such a look.

"You've been selected for your investigation skills and availability, each of you will be paired and then assigned tasks. Anymore questions?"

"No, sir."

"Good, dismissed."

The crowd dispersed slowly, a few choosing to come closer to take a look at the wall of evidence behind him. Immediately he'd wanted to confer with Sakura to see how she thought the first meeting had gone, but she was being crowded by officers, shaking her hand and introducing themselves. She was already every bit the commanding presence of Tsunade.

_She's going to go places that one._

Before he had any time to think, Kakashi was being approached as well, from a most unlikely person. Genma Shiranui, with his hands in his pockets and eyes looking to the floor, stood directly in front of him. Then it seemed as if Genma was willing to look everywhere but at Kakashi himself. If it had been a year ago he might've asked the detective what was wrong, but their working relationship had taken a sharp downturn after Obito's death, he had been the apparent buffer between them.

Kakashi couldn't remember asking for Genma to be on the task force, maybe he'd just been watching out of curiosity, he couldn't say.

"Listen, Hatake..." It was as if the words were physically hurting him, a hand came out of his pocket to tousle through his long hair. "I didn't realize... I mean, I didn't know that you'd been working so hard at this on your own... And I'm..." Genma appeared to be looking in Sakura's direction now and visibly shuddered. "I'm sorry for how I've been acting..."

"Genma, we didn't apologize to each other before Obito died, we don't have to start doing it now."

With a smirk and a clap on the shoulder Genma nodded before walking away and leaving Kakashi just a little perplexed. It must have been a common misconception that he had just been wallowing in his own misery for the past year instead of doing any real detective work. It might have felt good to prove them wrong, but there were no good feelings to be had about this case or the loss of his former partner. For now he would just have to be satisfied that at least his peers no longer believed him to be a useless waste of space. It would have to sustain him until they arrested the person responsible for Obito's death.

Kakashi slunk his way out of the conference room and to his desk. There was a lot of work to be done, first of all, assigning tasks to the team he had in place, then there would be a meeting with the Akatsuki task force...

Still standing, when he looked up from his desk for his now customary scan for a head of pink hair, his whole being paused. Gai was talking to Sakura, looking every bit the nervous fool that he was, scratching his head and avoiding eye contact. He couldn't hear what was being said but what concerned him the most, and for reasons he did not understand in the slightest, Sakura was laughing.

It was an out loud, purposefully, too cute to be real, honest to god giggle. Perhaps it was because it was entirely unexpected, but it shocked Kakashi more than he would ever dare to admit. His intention had been for Gai's advances to be rebuffed spectacularly in the style he expected from his partner. Maybe he wasn't so good at predicting her reactions after all, and that bothered him a lot. Without much more thought into the matter Kakashi made his way over to the pair, ignoring others and straining his ears along the way.

"So, uh, what's so funny over here?" He hoped it didn't sound as nervously uncertain as he felt.

It happened in an instant, Sakura turned her head and caught his eye, there was a glint of something dark that crossed her features but Kakashi was a fool and too late to catch it properly before it was too late. The next thing Kakashi was able to register was the wind being knocked out of him, Sakura's fist dead center with his stomach, hitting him with such a force that he doubled over. His ear level with her mouth as he prostrated in agony.

"I don't know about 'super pretty'" she whispered menacingly in his ear, "but I do have pretty good hearing, Hatake, so don't try to pull that shit with me."

Sakura straightened herself a little, bid farewell to a stunned Gai with a smile, and then returned to her desk. Kakashi felt a surge of relief that at least the whole bullpen hadn't seen the incident but it was short lived. A boisterous laugh from behind him, and one so rare he didn't think her capable of it anymore, Tsunade was in near tears by the time he had the fortitude to turn around.

"Well, it's nice to know your new partner doesn't tolerate your shit, Hatake." She caught her breath and Kakashi couldn't help rolling his eyes. "Now, don't look so forlorn, Kakashi, _don't get mad, get even."_

Tsunade turned, still cackling like a witch, and went back to her office. As Kakashi stood there rubbing his stomach while Gai held back peels of laughter, there was something else unsettling him that had nothing to do with the rapidly forming bruise or internal bleeding.

Tsunade had said something, and for some reason those words were echoing in his mind repetitively... calling to him...

And then it clicked. Sakura had said the same thing...Eyes wide he managed to catch Sakura's gaze as she watched the aftermath of her little stunt. Her face went impassive as he spoke though.

"Aunty Tsunade, huh?"

The expression that passed on Detective Haruno's face was first one of mild shock, and then disgust, before just a hint of a smile.


	15. Chapter 15

Patrolling had always been one of Izumo's favorite parts of the job, fresh air and sunshine, with that lovely added bonus of getting out of the stuffy precinct and away from prickly overworked professionals that were inside of it. Behind the wheel was the place to be today, radio blasting, windows down, a couple of ice cold monster slushies in the cup holders. It seemed that Kotetsu was feeling similarly.

"I just don't understand how that asshole keeps getting us mixed up, y'know? It's not like we look the same at all..."

"Try and forget about it, will ya? It could be a lot worse, we could be stuck working on his task force."

"I don't know how that new detective puts up with him, she actually punched him in the stomach a couple weeks ago y'know. She's so pretty, too. Iit's such a waste to have her paired with a jackass like Hatake."

"She's a bit of a spitfire from what I hear, the two of them brought in about ten perps last week alone for distributing bijuu..."

"Shit, they got ten already? That's impressive. Still nothing from the serial killer task force though, right?"

"Nothing yet, it's only a matter of time with those two on the case. Almost like they've got too many leads to follow up on-" Izumo was cut off by the crackling sound of the police radio, immediately he shut off the music.

**"10-9, unit 25 respond, over"**

Kotetsu picked up the radio with a side glance to Izumo. They were in the kind of area that had a lot of rich school kids playing hooky, truancy and petty theft was usually the tune of their patrols.

"10-3 Dispatch, patrol unit 25 responding, over."

**"Reports of a 10-50 in your area east on State Highway 16, no information on state of persons involved, over."**

"10-2 Dispatch, en route now, over."

"A 10-50? Isn't that a vehicle collision?" Izumo's interest was piqued now.

"Vehicle accident, we can radio in for an ambulance if needed, you think it'll be worth the sirens?"

Siren questions were always rhetorical. Izumo would have preferred the radio blaring but the sirens were a fitting substitute.

"Who could get into an accident on this sorry stretch of road? It's straight as an arrow and sunny out."

"Never doubt the stupidity of motorists, Izumo, they always manage to find a way."

Without any other cars on the road it seemed pointless to blare the sirens any longer, Kotetsu settled for just the lights and they sped onwards in silence, the deserted highway bathed in sunshine. It wasn't as if accidents were uncommon within Konoha or the outskirts of the city, it was just seldom seen in these conditions. There was a first time for everything, especially in law enforcement, new and disturbing things had a habit of popping up when you least expected it.

The road began to curve past the lone gas station on this stretch of motorway. It was one of those strictly if you were desperate enough to stop places, it held little more than two gas pumps and a fridge filled with various kinds of blue liquid that long haul drivers used to sustain themselves. Izumo hadn't paid much attention to it, but after patrolling this route for a year or two you got to know where the emergency pit stops were. Today they had a job to do, they weren't desperate enough to stop there.

"Izumo, what the hell is going on over there?"

Kotetsu sounded urgent and it broke through any of the existing thought processes. At the speed they were travelling the scene came into view more clearly by the second. At first it had appeared to be two blurry lines in the middle of the road, the blurs eventually became recognizable as human shapes, and then Izumo realized who they were in an instant.

They were uniformed officers.

Without much more thought his foot landed more heavily on the accelerator than before, the car surged forward and Kotetsu let the siren blip once to alert them. They weren't facing the windshield at first, they were running down the road in the opposite direction, once they heard the noise the pair stopped and began to wave them down.

"This is fucking weird..." Kotetsu preemptively picked up the radio receiver.

The pair were a man and a woman, both out of breath by the time the patrol car came to a stop beside them, Izumo dropped the windows.

"What's going-" Izumo never got to finish the sentence, the female officer beat him to the punch in between short gasps for breath. She was in far better shape than her partner at least.

"Officer 83... 682, 4E... Secure prisoner transport... Stopped for gas... Turned around and the van was heading off..."

"Someone _stole a secure prisoner transport van?!_ You've got to be... Have you radioed in-"

"Radios were in the van, and cellphones, the gas clerk was phoning in when we took off in pursuit on foot-"

They were interrupted by a crackling sound, Kotetsu's eyes dropping to the radio in his hand.

**"10-9 unit 25 respond, we have officers in need of assistance, repeat, officers in need of assistance. Code 10-10, repeat code 10-10, over."**

"10-7 dispatch, unit 25 receiving officers, we have a 2110, repeat 2110, police vehicle stolen on a 4E, prisoner on the loose, over."

Kotetsu continued to rattle off the required numbers to dispatch while Izumo shouted for the officers to get in the back.

"We got reports of a vehicle accident up ahead, what's the bet that it's a stolen prison transport van?"

"Oh shit, Chouji you just had to stop for a goddamn snack didn't you?"

"Hey, we needed gas as well, Tenten, you're the one who didn't fill up before we left the holding cell-"

"You two, cut if out!" Kotetsu had hung up the receiver and any of his remaining patience. "What a fucking mess you've gotten us into. Not only have you blatantly ignored standard procedure, we have a criminal on the loose. Who were you transporting anyway?"

"Mizuki Tsubaki, the guy they got for chopping his girlfriend up into little bits." Chouji's face had been red from exertion but it drained to sheet white as he spoke. His partner looked just as destitute beside him.

Izumo didn't want to take his eyes off the road ahead but couldn't help the impromptu side glance to his own partner. Kotetsu had reciprocated and he didn't need to be a mind reader to know what was going through his thoughts. They were _all _going to be in deep shit if they didn't recover this guy. He tried to ignore the nagging questions of who might have taken him in the first place, tried to ignore the growing feeling of dread in his stomach at what may lie ahead on this road, waiting for them.


	16. Chapter 16

Six years of medical school, countless late nates on that rookie doctor shift work schedule, dozens if not hundreds of complicated surgeries that had lasted hours on end with no break. Not once in all of that time had Sakura Haruno succumbed to the pressure. She'd watched all her friends, peers and colleagues battle caffeine addictions, and worse, watched them gain pounds after dangerously easy grease fuelled diets, watched their metabolisms suffer.

But Sakura was above all that, her body had been her temple, and her greatest weapon. There was no way she would compromise that for the temporary benefits of sugar and endorphins.

It had only taken three weeks as a fully fledged Detective for Sakura to finally slip after late shifts with hours of tense interrogation, no sleep and a stiff wrist. On her way home early one morning she'd unfortunately caught the scent of the bakery at the end of her block. She'd found herself staring in the window of the place for a full ten minutes before she got the gall up to go inside.

And that's when it had started. She'd woken some hours later from a coma, surrounded by the wrappers and powdered sugar residue of her biggest shame. The look on Lady Katsuyu's face should have been enough to trigger a guilt that would put her off doing it again… but it had happened on multiple occasions now. As Sakura stood in front of the gas station they were meant to be investigating there was only one thing going through her mind….

They might have powdered sugar doughnuts inside.

"Haruno, would you hurry up and get in here? Stop spacing out on me, woman." Kakashi's head appeared from the sliding doorway and broke her reverie.

"Oh, right, surveillance footage. Got it." Reluctantly she followed him inside, pleased to see that there was little to the facilities other than a stocked fridge and a shelf filled with crisps. At least she wasn't craving salt. "So the officers were stopped outside, broke protocol by both leaving the vehicle unattended, and the perp was able to get into the passenger's seat without being noticed, slide across and drive away.."

"That's about it, yeah."

"Shouldn't we just proceed to the crime scene directly, Kakashi? There are already cops here getting statements, we can get the information later..."

"It's on the way, I just want to check it out before we move on, it's only going to take a minute. We need to get a step ahead of this guy, and if we can get even a grainy security image of a suspect that's more than we've had for years."

She couldn't fault his logic, he was correct, Sakura just wanted to get on with the job at hand. She knew what was awaiting them down the road and the anticipation of examining the scene was almost more than she could bear. Behind the counter, pushing past uniformed officers with a flash of her badge, Kakashi and Sakura crowded the single monitor that showed the feed from the two cameras attached to the facility. One pointed solely at the cash register, the other was a panning camera on the forecourt.

"Damn it. That panning camera is going to be an issue." Sakura muttered more to herself than to her partner but he responded none-the-less.

"Don't be so sure, we could get lucky. This is the sequence of the van coming in to the station. Camera is a motion based one, so it's aimed at the entrance when it comes in, everything's fine. Pans to the van coming to a stop at the pump."

It happened in a flash on the monitor, so quickly that Sakura barely had time to catch it, Officer Tenten had jumped from the passengers side and come around the front of the vehicle toward the door to the station. Officer Chouji slowly got out himself. There was a brief view of light on the camera as the passengers side door was opened and then closed again, but that was it. The camera was now focused on the two officers moving into the gas station. Once they were inside the camera remained motionless at the door, a nice view of the pavement until it jerked back up in time to see the van speeding out of the exit.

"Did you catch it?" She side eyed Kakashi.

"Yeah, are you able to bring it up closer on screen?"

With a few taps of the dusty old keyboard attached to the monitor there was a zoomed in partial of the gas pump itself just as the van was pulling into the entrance.

"That's a shoe, right? Our perp was hiding behind the pump and waited until the camera was down until snatching the vehicle. Clever."

"That sounds a lot like praise, Haruno. Are you complimenting our thief?" Kakashi continued without a verbal answer, the veritable glare she shot him seemed to suffice. "So no visual, damn. If we trawl back far enough we might be able to get something of the guy getting into position..."

"If we're lucky..."

"We are a bit pessimistic today, aren't we? Did you not get enough time to go to the bakery this morning?"

"What's that- how did- oh never mind. Let's just send this through to the precinct and get Gai to comb through it. I'll make time in my calendar to kick your ass later."

"I'll look forward to it. Want to grab anything here before we head to the crime scene?"

"Are you kidding? Let's just get there fast, we're going to have so much paperwork to do later."

"Listen to you, sounding like a seasoned and jaded detective already."

"And I wonder whose fault that is?" Sakura rolled her eyes, watching as Kakashi grabbed an enormous bottle of blue sugar liquid and leaving some money on the counter. He had the audacity to wink at her before heading back to the car. Without thinking Sakura took the driver's seat again, her wrist wasn't so sore now, and she had been driving in short stints back and forth to the lab this last week. But it had been a long drive to get here and she would be lying if she said it wasn't a little stiff.

"Not much further now, you sure you're up to-"

"I'm fine, Kakashi. Just..." She hadn't meant to snap at him. Despite his sometimes questionable behavior, Kakashi had been the only thing she'd been able to count on in the last three weeks. He was a constant pillar of support, unwavering and always there when she had a question or needed a hand that wasn't fractured. He would joke and gripe about it maybe but he always helped immediately and he didn't deserve the shitty attitude she had woken up with this morning. "I'm just not particularly looking forward to seeing what we're about to see."

He remained silent in thought as she started the car, taking a long drought of the sugar syrup, it hurt Sakura's teeth just to look at it.

"This is going to sound odd, but that's a relief to hear."

"What? What do you mean?"

"Well, when you start walking into these scenes with no feeling, or worse, looking forward to it even, that's when you want to be worried, Sakura. It's good to feel, just aim it in the right direction and don't be like me."

The words were kind, uncharacteristically so, and while she appreciated them they weren't quite enough to quell the feeling inside her. It was a harsh juxtaposition to the beautiful weather and lush scenery that passed by the windows. She felt physically sick, a likely byproduct of overindulging these last few days combined with nervousness and anxiety.

She'd seen dead bodies before, that wasn't the issue, it was just a professional hazard of the careers she had chosen.

She'd never seen a fresh victim of the Kyuubi Killer before though, and the prospect of seeing someone she had known as the victim, even if it had only been intense dislike... well it unsettled her stomach and her mind. Bile would rise in her throat whenever she thought too much on the subject, it was a singular thought that turned acidic in all manner of ways.

_Mizuki Tsubaki may have got what he deserved, but he'll never face justice for what he did to Samantha._

That sickness would morph into rage at the secondary thought, they no longer had a living witness to the Akatsuki dealings that they could question at will. Though she was loath to admit it, all of his information had been fruitful thus far, in between the psychotic ramblings and violent outbursts. She could never have liked the guy, let alone tolerate him, but she still wouldn't wish him dead before he had faced a judge and jury.

"At least we have imperative evidence now that the Kyuubi Killer is working with the Akatsuki, if nothing else."

"Seriously, this shade of pessimism on you is a flattering homage to myself, and I would normally love it and take pictures, but you need to focus, Haruno. We have more than just a link and you know it, he took a _big _risk for the first time, and it's his first real mistake in a long time."

"You're right, I know you're right, but still... How do you know this is going to come to anything and we won't end up at another dead end?"

"Because, this is the first mistake he's made with you on the case, Haruno. And I'm confident that it will be his last before we catch him."

Again the words were a touching sentiment, as was the small upturn of his lips and the way he averted his gaze as he said it. There was just something about this whole situation that didn't sit right for Sakura and she couldn't shake the feeling of doom at what awaited them around the corner.

It would be hard to miss the cavalcade of police vehicles, coroner vans and crime scene tape. Sakura parked the shitty sedan, opening the door to a wall of uncomfortable summer heat that was thick and unpleasant to be working in.

"First impressions?" Kakashi asked as he held up the tape for her to step under.

"This spot had to have been chosen specifically, secluded, private road, cover behind the trees. Main highway access in either direction so there was a quick exit in a separate vehicle, in this dry weather I doubt we'll be able to get usable tire impressions anywhere. I'll make the command to forensics to pick up the flora and fauna around the site. We may get lucky later and be able to trace the getaway vehicle at least."

"Very good. You're sounding like a real detective now, Haruno."

"I should hope so, if I start dragging people to plant stores then I'll worry. What's your first impression of the place?"

"What you said, couldn't have put it better myself. What concerns me the most is that the gas station had to be chosen specifically also, but how did they know the officers would stop?"

Sakura stopped walking and regarded Kakashi with an edge of fear.

"You think they're tailing cops?"

"Could be, or something infinitely worse." He paused too and met her eye, he didn't need to say the rest, Sakura knew what the worse case scenario would be.

The Akatsuki could have a mole in the Konoha PD.

"Took you two long enough!" Shizune's voice reached her ears, the sweating ME stumbling toward them carrying heavy black bags of gear. "I hope his lazy late attitude isn't rubbing off on you, Sakura."

"We had to make a pit stop at the gas station where the vehicle was taken to see if we could get any CCTV footage of the perp. Want to get an APB out as soon as possible. What's the situation here?" Sakura jerked her head over to the white prison transport van behind the trees. Investigators and officers combing through every surrounding shrub. Normally Sakura would have joked with Shizune for the lateness quip, but today she just couldn't be bothered, there was a tension in the air and she wanted to get away from this place as soon as she was able to.

"Go in and take a look for yourselves. It's definitely him." Shizune directed her attention to Kakashi. "He's back."

For Sakura's thinking, Shizune was panicking, they had both been present for the previous rampage of the serial killer. Her usual kept appearance was shaky, her eyes widened, and a stark contrast to the man she was imploring. Kakashi's lip quirked to the left in a semblance of a smile, but it was something different, something darker.

"Not for long." His words caused a surge of energy within her that she hadn't expected, she regarded him with quiet fascination as he spoke. "Has anyone touched the scene?"

Shizune shook her head before she answered.

"Only me. Scene is untouched, I have taken the preliminary photos but I thought I would leave it to the leaders of the task force for the rest."

"Thank you, we appreciate it." Kakashi nodded before walking away, Sakura scrambled to catch up to him. "Officer's Izumo and Kotetsu were the first on the scene, we should probably talk with them first, where are those miserable shit's-"

"Kakashi, you can't call them that, you're their superior officer. And you really need to learn to tell them apart, look there they are."

"You're telling me that you can tell them apart? I'm calling bluff."

"Of course I can, watch this." Sakura cupped her hands to her lips. "Officer Izumo!" She called in their direction, one of them met her eyes and began to walk over to them.

"That doesn't count, that's cheating." Despite Kakashi's muttering she also heard the compliment. "Nice move though."

"Detectives. You wanted to see me."

"You were the first on the scene, correct? I'm sure you've been over this a few times already, but do you mind going over it again for us?"

"Of course, Detective Haruno. We received an urgent dispatch alerting us to a vehicle accident in the area we were patrolling. Came across those bozo's..." he gestured to Officers Tenten and Chouji who were sitting in the back of an ambulance looking forlorn. "They were running in the direction their vehicle had headed off it after it was stolen from the gas station. We got word immediately, one of the clerks had phoned it in, we left in pursuit of the vehicle."

"We heard that much from the captain, what happened next?"

Sakura nudged Kakashi slightly, hoping that Izumo hadn't seen it, if he weren't within earshot she'd have hissed _patience, asshole._

"Well, we phoned in for backup, tried to cover all the exits for this area with patrol cars. It's just too large to cover... we drove full tilt for twenty minutes with no sign of the vehicle and met up with the other search cars. When we doubled back we noticed the side road underneath the trees and found... well, we found what we were looking for. I have never seen or smelled anything like it."

Despite the sunshine hitting them where they stood, all the color drained from Izumo's face in an instant.

"Did you touch anything when you got here?" Sakura asked tentatively with an air of concern, beating Kakashi to the punch or whatever snarky comment he was likely to make.

"No, ma'am. Back door was open, drivers side was also open, we approached with caution. Saw... what's inside and phoned in immediately."

"Good work Officer, dismissed." Kakashi exchanged nods with Izumo before he walked back to his partner. "That gives out perp a very small window of time..." He continued to talk as they got closer to the opened doors of the van. "Twenty minutes to a half hour while the officers were looking the wrong way, another twenty to get back to where they started... An hour max, maybe. To do all this..."

Kakashi was staring into the van as he spoke, undeterred by the grizzly sight within. Sakura instead felt her eyes widen despite herself and all the gruesome things she'd been witness to in her own life. It was the blood that triggered a wave of nausea, the way it was dripping onto the ground from the van in a near constant stream. With each drip she felt that stomach acid rising to unacceptable levels.

At the back of the cab she could see what remained of Mizuki Tsubaki, and it was indeed him, the hair gave it away. His eyes were missing, he'd been shackled to the bars at the back and his legs, arms, feet... it was hard to tell there was so much blood. Suffice to say that his limbs were no longer attached to his body. Swallowing thickly and not to be outdone by her partner, Sakura pulled herself back to the present.

"An hour to partially dismember a body that would take power tools, or more than one person certainly. Doesn't the Kyuubi Killer usually hang up the victim to bleed them?"

"I'm assuming he didn't have time for this one, like Obito." Kakashi sniffed after he said the name, almost like it'd had a physical effect on him. "I understand what Kotetsu was saying about the smell, what the hell is that..."

"Seriously, Kakashi? It was Izumo and it was like thirty seconds ago. God you're such a senile-" Sakura had to pause, something wasn't right here and it had nothing to do with the mutilated corpse in front of her. "That smell isn't a body related one..."

"It's familiar too..."

Sakura began to look around the van to find the source of the pungent smell, hoping her nose would lead her to whatever-

"It's kerosene..." Kakashi sniffed and dropped to the ground instantly as if he were doing a push up, looking under the vehicle. Sakura was simultaneously questioning how he was so dexterous and what would have prompted him to do such an action. Rather than joining him she simply crouched beside him and ducked her head, the smell was stronger closer to the ground.

"Shizune's probably nose-deaf to this kind of thing, or assumed it was the van overheating-"

"It's a bomb." Kakashi had said it quietly and calmly, so much so that she didn't believe him until she looked past him and saw the pipe with wires for herself. "Sakura, get everyone out of here- now!"

She didn't need to be told twice.

"Attention everyone!" Now was the time for her best Tsunade impression. "We've found a bomb, code 10:79, repeat, 10:79, clear the area! Fast! All of you, move! Izumo, radio in for the bomb squad-"

"No time!" Kakashi shouted from underneath the van, his voice loud and commanding and not at all familiar to Sakura. "I'm going to try to defuse it, Sakura get out of here, now! That's an order!"

"50/50 Hatake, I'm not going anywhere, how long-"

"No time to talk about it, listen to me, get yourself out! I'm going to cut this wire and I don't know what'll happen next-"

"You've got to be kidding me, no I won't leave you or our crime scene!"

"30 seconds, take cover, Haruno. **Now."**

"Do you have the right wire, yes or no?"

"I can't see- fuck…."

Kakashi's swear was the last thing she remembered hearing before there was a shadow and she felt herself being pushed hard into the dirt. And then there was an explosion so loud it was as if someone had combined every firework that Sakura had ever heard all in one. She felt heat, but mostly she felt pressure that was keeping her covered and pinned to the ground. Her eyes adjusted faster than her ears, the ringing was almost as deafening as the explosion itself, when she cracked her eyes open (unsure of when exactly she had shut them) she was met with the sight of dusty blue and black.

It was Kakashi's shirt and jacket, it was Kakashi's chest, his body shielding her from the fiery cloud that was once a vehicle. A sickening panic rose, he wasn't moving, had the explosion knocked him out or worse… Instinctively her hands came up to grip his sides and he moved, his face looking down at hers.

"You're okay…." He asked with wide panicking eyes, she couldn't hear him properly but knew what he was saying, and she knew that he was saying it more as a reaffirming statement to himself. She nodded readily, watching his dark irises still panicking and searching hers. "You're okay…" He repeated before releasing a breath he'd been holding, and she could feel it with his whole body on top of hers.

Kakashi winced, his eyes narrowing before he tried to move, Sakura's eyes dropped and that was when she saw the blood. Kakashi's head must have been turned when the blast hit, shrapnel or something had grazed his cheek and lip, he rolled to the side and onto the ground. The black smoke and the waves from the sheer heat were making it hard to see anything that wasn't directly in front of her, Sakura scrambled to her shaky knees and found Kakashi. The back of his jacket was smouldering, without a word she helped him out of it, the shirt underneath was also burning at the back and at the shoulder.

Sakura didn't care about buttons, wasn't thinking of anything other than what needed to be done in that moment. She had gone into full doctor survival mode. She might have ripped it off part of the way. He was wearing a singlet underneath, and while she could see visible scorch marks it wasn't the flames she had seen before.

He had to be burnt horribly underneath, so she ripped that off him too.

"Sakura…" She felt a hand on her cheek, it was Kakashi's, directing her attention to his face. "I'm alright, see, no burns… just a couple of scratches."

"Thank god." She sighed and fell back onto her heels.

"Can you walk?"

"Yeah, I think so, you?"

"Not sure… We need to get away before the gas tank explodes…"

They were shouting and she was aware of it, but the after effects of the explosion had still not worn off. There was no time to delay, helping Kakashi to his feet they hastily limped to cover, she held onto him tightly the whole way, unsure if he could support his own weight.

They were immediately surrounded by paramedics, but Sakura was the only doctor in the house. From the back of an ambulance she gave orders, brushing off the MT's trying to make a fuss over her, shouting that they needed to put the fire out before any evidence was lost. At some point she lost sight of Kakashi while they cleaned up the scrapes on his face, and without him in view Sakura finally felt the panic set in.

If she had left and taken cover when Kakashi had told her to, maybe he would have defused the bomb, the evidence would have been saved. It was their first proper lead into the Kyuubi killer, the one who had taken Obito from this world, and it had all gone up in literal smoke… and it was all her fault.

The bile from earlier came up faster than she could suppress this time. Managing somehow to slink away and back to the parked sedan she finally let it all out on the side of the road and out of view of her fellow officers. Her eyes were stinging, her throat, her stomach, her wrist… When she made to wipe her mouth on the back of her hand she noticed that Kakashi's blood was still sticking to her. It made her retch again.

"Jesus Christ, Haruno, never go to a murder scene on a full stomach, even a rookie should know that."

She'd been leaning on the trunk of the car as she hurled whatever was left in her stomach, straightening to find Kakashi Hatake opening the vehicle, eyeing her with a strange look but it could have just been from the smoke. He was shirtless still, it looked as if a cut had been glued at the side of his head, but he was otherwise without a scratch.

"How did you manage to get out of that unscathed?" It even hurt to talk.

"Luck, dumb luck and nothing more, not entirely unscathed though. I'll have this nice scar and a twisted ankle. That was no ordinary pipe bomb, that was TNT…" Kakashi leaned into the drivers side of the car, popping the trunk which startled Sakura. "There was no way I could have defused that in under two minutes without any tools, he didn't have time to clean the scene so he blew it up." Dodging the pile of vomit, Kakashi came to stand beside her. "How are you doing? I came down on you pretty hard, is your wrist okay-"

"I'm fine, I'm fine… I'm…" She couldn't meet his eye so she settled for staring at his bare chest. Another time and she might have been pleasantly surprised by the rippling muscles that he'd been hiding, but right now she was spiralling into a train of thought that was only chaos. "This is all my fault, what a fucking mess, we've lost…. everything…"

"This is not your fault, alright. I am telling you, this is not your fault, and I'm never wrong, got it?:" He'd put both his hands on the sides of her upper arms. "There was no way to know that it was a trap, and it was timed perfectly. You couldn't have foreseen that."

"It's almost like they were watching us and knew when we would be there."

"It is, but try not to think about that just yet. Take a minute to catch your breath, if you can with all this goddamn smoke." He relinquished his hold of her before peering into the trunk. "I was so sure I had another shirt back here…"

"How the hell do we come back from this Kakashi? It's one thing after another, we've just lost our best chance of catching him-" her voice had begun to waver, later she would blame it on the smoke.

"Not true, we're our best chance of catching him. We have pictures of the scene that Shizune took before the blast, and better than that, he's changed his MO. He's scared, and scared perps make mistakes, trust me." He spoke while hastily putting on a plain white t shirt he'd managed to find in the mess of the trunk.

"It's like trying to look left and right at the same time… We're working on the Akatsuki task force meanwhile this guy is getting away with- what are you doing?"

Sakura stopped her rambling when she caught sight of her partner, he had pulled his phone out, enabled the camera and pointed it in the opposite direction.

"I'm looking left, while also looking right." He held up the phone for emphasis. "And if I count your eyes and camera then I'm looking in four directions at the same time. We've got this, Sakura. I know we do, we're so close I can taste it."

"That might just be the blood in your mouth."

Kakashi smiled and it had the odd side effect of calming Sakura. She just wasn't used to this, like she wasn't used to seeing Kakashi in a snug fitting t shirt without his collar and jacket. She wasn't used to the late nights, surviving on caffeine and no sleep until the job was done. But she was going to, she would have to, and fast. There was no other solution.

Taking a deep breath and steadying herself Sakura attempted to pull herself together. This was stupid, it was the adrenaline talking, the fear and nothing more. As long as she had Kakashi with her they would both be fine.

Starting today, she would go back to the regime that worked best for her. Healthy foods, exercise, keeping her mind active and stress levels low. But first she needed to get the after taste of vomit and smoke out of her mouth. Going against all her better judgements she reached into the sedan and withdrew the bottle of blue liquid Kakashi had bought earlier, popping the cap and downing half of it in one hit.

"Hey, that's- did you hit your head?" Kakashi approached her with concern.

"No, why?"

"Well, just last week you told Detective Genma that you would rather drink bleach than..."

"I know what I said, shut up, gotta get that taste out of my mouth, here." She threw the bottle at him.

"That's more like it."

"You tell anyone that you saw me throw up or drink that shit and I will gut you like a fish, got it?"

"There she is, welcome back Detective Haruno."


	17. Chapter 17

In the past few weeks Kakashi had learnt when not to poke his partner for more information than she was willing to give. It might have been Pavlovian conditioning, a sharp elbow to the ribs if he asked if she was alright too many times, but it had left an impact. So despite the tense atmosphere in the sedan, Kakashi kept his thoughts and questions to himself. They had just narrowly escaped being blown up after all.

"You sure you're alright driving with that ankle? I can take over."

"I'm fine, it's not so bad, besides it was my turn anyway."

"Sorry about your shirt by the way, and your jacket..."

"Stop apologizing Sakura, it's not like you set that trap. I've got other shirts and another jacket somewhere I'm sure, it's fine."

"You sure about that? I've only ever seen you in that jacket..."

Before he even had time to voice the witty rebuttal he was rudely interrupted by his cell phone mounted to the dash. Gai's name was flashing across it, Sakura beat him to the swipe to answer, putting it on speaker phone.

"Gai, what have you got for me? We're on our way..."

"Are you both alright?! Tsunade has been screaming down the phone for an hour, did the blast get you?"

"We're fine, Gai." Sakura said with a monotone of impatience.

"Well that's something at least, you better get here fast though, the Captain might actually murder someone at this rate-" On cue, Tsunade's reverberating boom could be heard in the background. "I've also finally got a name for that offshore company in Kiri that makes the aquarium cleaner. Someone by the name of Kisame Hoshigaki, there's something vaguely familiar about it but I can't..."

"Wait, _the _Kisame Hoshigaki? Deputy Mayor of Kirigakure?" Sakura narrowed her eyes towards Kakashi.

"Yeah, the one and the same." Kakashi answered. "Doesn't surprise me in the slightest, he was only acquitted of those organized crime charges on a technicality. Have you told the captain yet, Gai?"

"Uh, no, it's been mayhem here all morning I haven't been able to get a word in."

"Good, leave it with me. I'll meet with Tsunade when I get there, just gotta find a shirt first..."

"A shirt? What the hell happened at that crime scene, Kaka-" click.

This time Kakashi hung up the call before Sakura could beat him to it.

"Kisame Hoshigaki huh, didn't they charge him with ordering the massacre in Kiri?"

"They did, and they rushed it, based the arrest on the testimony of a co-conspirator instead of actually looking for physical evidence. Botched the whole thing completely, so he ended up walking free. And then to make matters worse he amassed a small following in the years he lay low, and then he bought the votes for the election. Yagura is the current Mayor and it appears as it he's just a yes man for Kisame now, must have been a heavy price to buy him..."

"Tsunade is not going to be happy when she hears that, especially on the back of our entire crime scene blowing sky high..."

"We'll work through it when we come to it. I better get dressed properly before we go in though, I don't want to give her any more ammunition to be pissed off with."

The atmosphere in the sedan fell back into awkward silence. If something was bothering Sakura she would tell him when the time was right and no sooner. She would pick a moment when they were both not so busy with work, they had full stomachs and there was no impending doom. Kakashi liked to think he knew her well enough now to gauge this at least. The first stop he would make when they got to the precinct would be the locker room, there was definitely a spare shirt in there, he'd have to go jacket hunting later without Sakura noticing.

Gai was waiting for them at the door to the precinct, Genma was outside as well smoking behind the dumpster.

"It can't be that bad, can it?" Kakashi spat slamming the door to the sedan, he exchanged a look with Sakura.

"It's worse than that Kakashi, we're at new realms of anger."

"Has she started the maniacal laughter phase?"

"Not yet, but maybe you should ask Genma why he's out here..." Gai raised his eyebrows comically and nodded his head toward the other detective. Kakashi and Sakura begrudgingly glanced over to find that Detective Shiranui had in fact been handcuffed to the dumpster. "Tsunade took one look at his desk, told him if he liked trash so much he should-"

"Shut up, Gai! At least I don't have to be in the building with her, this way is far better..."

"Coward." Sakura muttered, loudly enough for everyone to hear. "C'mon let's get moving, we'll be in more shit if she knew we were out here talking."

"You two look like you've been frolicking-"

"Gai, any comment on my appearance will result in bodily harm to your person. And I was a doctor so I know how to make it look like an accident."

"Uhh, roger that, Detective Haruno. Seriously, Kakashi, are you alright? You look like you've been through the wringer."

"Well I did almost get blown up this morning, Gai. What's your excuse?"

He didn't need to glance sideways to know that Sakura would be biting her bottom lip subtly to stop herself from laughing. Though she gave as well as she got in the teasing department she had a lot more tact and patience than he did. Which was probably a good thing. because the looks they were receiving on walking into the building was enough to make him want to call out each of them individually. He hadn't actually seen his reflection since the blast, and he'd been too concerned with Sakura's well being to really scrutinize how she looked, she always seemed put together well enough anyway. Maybe today there was a hair or two out of place but that would be all, and even that look suited her.

The elevator doors opened onto the bullpen, chaos wasn't enough of a descriptor to truly capture what was going on. Before anyone could call them over Kakashi was on the move, taking the old tshirt off while still in the corridor, time was of the essence. The sounds of Sakura trying to whisper an argument with Gai followed him all the way to the locker room. When that door shut behind them he could finally hear what was being said.

"The captain is definitely going to call in the major crimes unit, Haruno, this is too much for the task force, we'll be going across borders with Kiri involved now-"

"No, no way she would do that! She'll make one phone call to the commissioner and we'll have what we need, he's wrapped around her finger, besides she promised us this case, right Kakashi?"

"I don't know if I would count that as a promise, but I do think you're right about the other part. This task force means too much for her just to fob the case over to major crimes, not to mention that bijuu is being distributed in our district, we should be the ones to bring the Akatsuki down. There's a score to settle."

"I hear you both, but you've got to admit, especially after this morning's incident that you're in over your heads! You're trying to take down a notorious serial killer and an entire criminal network!"

While Gai spoke Kakashi continued to comb through his locker to find a suitable replacement for a shirt.

"Gai, if you're not going to back us up on this, I don't want you in that room with the captain."

"Fine, I'll back you up this one time but when it blows up in your face again, pun intended, I won't sit quietly and watch you walk into the fire." Gai held up a finger as it to add exclamation to his point, Kakashi was filled with an overwhelming urge to slap it back in his face but restrained himself and he left.

"What the hell is his problem..." Kakashi murmured buttoning his shirt, Sakura coming to fix his collar.

"I'm his problem, Hatake. He's made it pretty clear that he wants to be your only partner."

"We worked together _once _five years ago when Obito was on assignment somewhere else and he has literally been dogging me ever since, it's insane."

"Yeah, well we've got bigger problems to tackle right now."

"You're right, Tsunade is not going to be easy to deal with-"

"No, not that problem. I can see your nipples through your shirt."

"My eyes are up here, Haruno. "

"Well, it's just a little distracting, looks like your trying to signal alien life with those things."

"You'd be cold too if you had your clothes ripped off you-"

An ominous throat clearing noise stopped all sentences from forming in Kakashi's mind, he craned his neck to see the terrifying truth. Tsunade standing there with her arms folded. A grimace passed over Sakura's features very quickly before she turned to face her doom.

"If you two are quite finished, debriefing, my office, two minutes."

Kakashi considered it the work of divine intervention alone that allowed him to dress so quickly. Sakura didn't hang around, she followed immediately after the captain and it was just as well. Tsunade didn't need any extra ammunition before he walked into that office. Leaving the locker room Kakashi stole a second to glance at himself in the mirror, there was certainly a dishevelled ashen quality to his appearance that hadn't been there this morning. It would have to stay that way until after meeting the captain. Gai and Sakura were waiting in her office when he entered, as soon as the door closed she began.

"First of all, I want to express how grateful I am that you're both safe, the only reason the crime scene techs weren't caught in that blast was your quick thinking, Hatake."

"Thank you, Captain..."

"Who said I was thanking you for anything, detective? I only expressed my gratitude that you protected another officer and the rest of the staff at the site. Secondly, I want to tell you, how momentously _lucky _you are not to be dead right now. What the hell were you thinking, trying to defuse that bomb with no information and no equipment? And dragging Sakura into it..."

"That was my fault, Captain. I refused a direct order to vacate the scene."

"_You what- _I'm not even going to get started on that right now. Both of you, if you _ever_ do something that stupid again you'll face a fate more terrifying than a bomb, and it'll be the other end of my fists. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Kakashi resisted the urge to chance a look at Sakura. He knew she'd have one of two expressions on her face, the one of trained impassiveness, or the pouty look she often wore when she didn't get her way.

"Okay, we don't have a lot of time and we have a few things to cover, so let's get on with it. Was it him, was it Mizuki?"

"Yes, without a doubt."

"And was it the work of the Kyuubi killer?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Kakashi said without any trace of hesitance, he and Tsunade locked eyes in a heavy stare. "I believe it was in retaliation for his speaking to law enforcement about the operations of the Akatsuki."

"Do you really think he would rig one of his crime scenes to blow sky high? It doesn't fit his MO."

"It's uncommon for serial killers to change their MO, this is true, but we're also dealing with a criminal organisation here. If we assume that the killer is working on orders, and the evidence suggests that to be the case, then it's more than probable he set that bomb too. We're closer to finding him now than we ever have been, he's scared, he's trying to cover his tracks better."

"Let's make this his last victim, Hatake. Show this bastard what we're made of. Haruno, use your contacts to get an updated psychological profile of the killer as soon as you can. We need to move on this while it's still hot, excuse the pun. Gai, what did you have that was so important?"

"The name suppression was finally lifted on the owner of the company who makes 'Aquafin'. It's an offshore company in Kiri owned by one Kisame Hoshigaki."

"Son-of-a..."

"Captain, I have a suggestion for how to proceed..." Kakashi interrupted what was surely a volley of continuous swearwords, hoping it was enough to shift her anger for the moment.

"Lay it on me, please. If we're going across border I'm going to need all the goddamn ideas we've got."

"I think we should go directly to the factory now and search them before any information leaks or tip offs, bypass the distributors completely, surprise them while we have the chance-"

"Have you lost your mind Hatake? Or did that bomb knock a few more screws loose?"

"We know the factory is operating within Konoha, it wouldn't be hard to get the search warrant with a name now. I'm telling you, if we go directly to the manufacturer we could catch them in the act of making it-"

"_Could? _Could catch them? Not. Good. Enough. Not for me and certainly not for a judge to get the warrant, besides the fact that you want to piss off the Mayor of Kiri by arresting his deputy without probable cause..."

"Probable cause? The guy is a gang leader and corrupt as they come, he owns the company that makes the product the drugs have been found it, how is that not probable cause enough for you?"

"Not for me, Hatake, if it were just up to me I would let you go on this little suicide mission. But we've got to think about the big picture here, the precinct, the commissioner, the mayor. There's a way to go about this and barging in guns blazing is not the answer..."

"Captain, if I may... I have a suggestion which might be palatable to the both of you." Sakura spoke with that wavering tone that lead him to believe he would not like whatever she suggested. The way she got her phone out to show Tsunade without even looking at him confirmed the theory. "We've narrowed down ten pet stores within Konoha that stock the product. We've had eyes on all of them but so far have only managed to nab a few low level distributors as you know. We've exercised caution in where and when we've arrested those dealers so we don't tip off the stores that are selling the drug. It would be impossible to search the places without tipping off the others and then they'll go to ground again..."

"Which is the last thing we want, this is the closest anyone has been to the Akatsuki, ever. And we no longer have Mizuki to pump for contacts and information." Tsunade was already agreeing, Kakashi could feel his anger rising.

"Now that we know the company is linked to Kisame Hosigaki we need to be even more cautious, he's a career criminal, organized and unforgiving."

"The longer we wait on this the more likely it is for the Kyuubi killer to strike again." Kakashi interrupted his partner. "Add into the mix that this little stunt with the bomb required some extremely specific information about police procedures, and it was timed within the minute to when we arrived at the scene..."

"I'm not suggesting we wait, Hatake, just listen for once. What we should do is not give them an opportunity to communicate with each other. I'm saying we hit each store at the exact same time in a sting operation-"

"That's going to send alarm bells off to the higher ups after the fact, Haruno, are you serious?"

"I'm not saying we go in as cops, Hatake. I'm saying we hit each store _while undercover. _Going in asking questions posed as a civilian, see if we can get any more information without hitting the source. You have to admit, Kakashi, if we order warrants for the Aquafin factory and find nothing it's going to cause an incident with the border. That's what the captain is trying to prevent here."

"What is the point if we're also dealing with a mole in the Konoha PD? What if someone is feeding information directly to the Kyuubi killer from this very precinct? We're just going to ignore that fact and involve more officers, increasing the liability of more intell being leaked possibly-"

"Enough!" Tsunade stood as she spoke, the reverberations it sent through the office was enough to silence not only Kakashi, but the entire bullpen on the other side of the walls. "Enough, from the both of you. I will contact Internal Affairs about the _possibility _of an information leak, meanwhile I want more evidence, more information linking Aquafin to the bijuu and the Akatsuki. I appreciate that time is of the essence, Kakashi, and I know you're trying to keep a killer off the streets, but we still need to follow procedure. The commissioner and chief of detectives already want a status report on the task force and we need more than a few nameless peddlers. We need every shred of information we can get before we try to land Kisame-fucking-Hoshigaki. Understood?"

Kakashi knew the logic, understood the reasoning behind it all, and maybe it was all due to impatience on his part... but he was also anxious to get this guy fast. Bombs were no joke, if there was a target on his back or on the back of his partner, he wanted that snuffed out as soon as possible.

_He would not let another tragedy happen on his watch._

"Understood."

"Pardon?"

"Understood, Captain."

"Better. Now, go prep your squads for going undercover, I want detailed reports afterwards. Where are we on that footage?"

"Still combing through it Ma'am, there's a lot of it-"

"I want it all done by first thing tomorrow morning. I don't care if it takes all night. Get moving, you've got some pet stores to check out. Dismissed."

Gai hightailed it out of the room as quickly as his legs would allow, Sakura appeared to be lingering and Kakashi wasn't going to let her fill the captain's head with any more suggestions. At least not without him here to argue about it.

"If I may, Captain-"

"Not now, Sakura."

"Detective Shiranui, Ma'am."

"Ah, yes. Fine, you have my permission to release him on the proviso that he clean his desk. If I find even one spec of dust on it-"

"No Ma'am, I was just going to tell you that it's due to rain in the next hour."

"Oh, okay then, wait until after that."

Tsunade and Sakura both nodded in unison and that was when Kakashi decided to hightail it himself. While he was content in pissing off the captain on most days of the week, pissing off both of them would land him in the hospital, he was sure of it.


	18. Chapter 18

During her mid twenties Sakura had stumbled upon a fascinating phenomenon, it was one of those realizations that had stuck with her every day since. Female relatives, coworkers, teachers, had all warned her of the 'joys' of being a woman but not one of them had explained the myriad of hormones and what their effects would be to her later in life. So, whenever Sakura found herself angry and was unable to pinpoint exactly why, she would eat something. Hunger bore the side effect of unexplained rage and emotions she would rather not admit defeat to.

So as soon as they had arrived at the mall for their undercover operation, Sakura had grabbed a bite to eat before anything else. As she sat in the food court throwing down sushi while her partner did the same in the seat across from her, she was surprised to find that the rage was not ebbing as it should. The more that Kakashi spoke the more the anger continued to rise.

"Did you want to go over our cover one more time?"

"No." She answered quickly, she didn't need him babying her and she didn't want to hear another word from his mouth.

"You sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure." The ire could not be contained. "I don't need to be micromanaged, Kakashi. I'm perfectly capable of doing my job."

"Undercover operations are high risk and you need to be aware-"

"Kakashi, just eat your lunch and shut up."

"Well, at least you're acting the part..."

"It really shouldn't surprise me that your actual girlfriend tells you to shut up..."

"I'm sure she would if she existed..."

"It really doesn't surprise me that you're single."

"Hey, you're single too, Haruno."

"Yes, and that's by choice, Hatake. Not because people can't stand to be around me."

"You're certainly a ray of sunshine to be around this afternoon."

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I almost get blown up this morning, lose all the evidence and crime scene, and then have my partner second guess me in front of my captain?"

"So that's what's bothering you..."

"Yeah, guess you managed to annoy it out of me." Sakura felt her shoulders sag just a fraction under the weight of the words she'd just said. It had been a long day, she was frustrated at a situation she couldn't change, and she was now taking that out on Kakashi.

"Sakura, partners don't have to agree on everything all the time, it's a good thing that we challenge each other. It means that we have more options when it comes down to it. Just because I wanted to go about this differently doesn't mean I don't have your back, alright? I told you to go with your gut and that's exactly what you did."

"I guess that's true, do you think this is a bad idea though?"

"Not necessarily a bad idea, we need more than circumstantial evidence and this is one way to get it... I just _loathe _going undercover. Feels more like play acting than actual police work."

"Are you serious right now? Undercover operations are an integral and necessary part of being a detective. You can't pick and choose which parts you want to do by preference. Why did you even become a cop in the first place?" Sakura was suddenly wondering at the expression on his face, how it changed so drastically with a single question. "I told you my story, why I became a detective, I never thought to ask you."

"There's not much to tell really." Kakashi was now picking apart his sushi absentmindedly. "Bounced around the system enough as a kid, so I guess I wanted to be part of that system, maybe fix it somehow."

"You were in juvie?"

"Not quite. I was in foster care for as long as I could remember, it's not a great place to grow up, even in Konoha. It's a fine line to being a homeless kid on the streets just trying to get by."

"What... what happened to your parents?" Sakura already regretted asking the question before it had even formed.

"Well, my mother died giving birth to me. My father... well he was ill, he couldn't take the strain I guess, he took his own life when I was five years old. Can't say I remember a lot about him." Kakashi wasn't looking at any spot in particular, his eyes not concentrating for the moment, and it broke Sakura's heart just a fraction to see. Suddenly she couldn't remember why she was mad at him in the first place. "It's alright, I made a home for myself eventually. I've talked enough though, we should probably change the subject to why you 'choose' to be single..."

"Not so fast, Kakashi, you still haven't told me why you became a cop. This isn't my first interrogation y'know."

The small quip broke some of that tension that had built, Kakashi huffed in amusement and raked a hand through his hair.

"What have I been teaching you... Well, long story short, once a kid gets passed that cute age and grows their adult teeth, foster homes are harder to come by. I was twelve, got shifted to this big house, there were so many kids there..."

"An orphanage?"

"Not quite. The guy was running a cute scam, he'd take in as many kids as he could house, take their benefits and inheritance for himself. Robbed them blind, wasted the money away before the kid reached legal age to inherit. Danzou, that was his name, scary old bastard with a heap of scars and a short temper. He didn't care so much for me y'see, whatever stipend the government was giving him on my behalf wasn't enough to save me from a beating. By 14 I'd hit my limit, there was nothing I could say or do to get this guy to stop beating kids and taking their money. He was the guardian and I was just a punk no one would listen to. So I left."

"Where did you go?"

"Anywhere that was dry and warm at first, then I moved to places that were safe, found a nice spot in an abandoned park. It was enough. During the day I was at school, sometimes a friend would put me up for the night, not a terrible existence but not something conducive to great childhood. One day, I'm in my park, just keeping warm and dry under the old pagoda, and I see a lady being mugged on the other side of the street, she's putting up a good fight, but then the guy pulls out a knife. I can't really tell you why or how it happened, but my body just _moved_ on it's own. I got between her and the guy in the nick of time, I didn't know it then but she was pregnant."

"Holy shit."

"Exactly, anyway, got the knife off the guy, got a nice scar for my troubles..."

"Is that the one across your chest?"

Sakura wasn't sure what she'd said that was so amusing, but Kakashi was suddenly smirking wildly.

"You certainly have been watching my body, huh, Haruno?" He seemed infinitely pleased with the way her cheeks heated. "But yes, that's the scar, a few stitches later and I came to in the hospital. The lady, Kushina, well she'd gotten help. Turns out she was meeting her husband, a police officer by the name of Minato Namikaze."

"Oh..."

"Yeah. They set me right after that, let me stay with them. Minato always said I had the instincts of a cop and that I should use them to help people, so I did, and he eventually became my captain. And that's my sad little Ted talk for today, Sakura, you can subscribe to the rest for a monthly fee..."

"Just shut up and eat, Hatake." Despite the harsh words that slipped from her mouth they were said with an added measure of care, and she knew that Kakashi would appreciate that. A nod and side smiles were exchanged, now things could go back to normal.

"Shall we get this over with then?" Kakashi asked as he stood, the remnants of their meal relegated to the trash.

"Yes, we've got five minutes..."

"Good, that'll give us enough time for a quick stop."

"Quick stop? Did you hear me right or has your hearing finally given up after that explosion?"

"Just trust me, Haruno."

Sakura knew the deals of their cover, she'd read it a dozen times and had it committed to memory. But it didn't make it any easier to pretend to be in a relationship with Kakashi Hatake. They worked well as a team most of the time but there were certain boundaries that she didn't like to cross. Those professional lines that she'd draw with red marker after all the mess with Sasuke. Kakashi had been lumped into a category of 'not even if you were the last man in Konoha', and while she even enjoyed his company sometimes that fact was unlikely to change.

So, when Kakashi stood next to her, angling his arm in a particular way so that she had no choice but to tuck her own arm inside of his, she was thrown off guard. It was only for a second and she would vehemently deny it later, but she hadn't anticipated him to act like a gentleman in any sense of the word and it was weird.

"Are you always this tense with physical contact?"

"Shut up, Kakashi. Are you solid on the details before we go in?"

"Yeah, just something we need to pick up first."

"We don't have time for your cryptic little mind games-"

"Here will do just fine." Kakashi all but pulled her towards a section of the mall which was all claw machines and rigged arcade games, the ones designed to keep children entertained for five minutes while the parents enjoyed brief solitude before the inevitable fights. "Pick a color before I pick one for you."

"What the fuck? Fine, ugh, red will do."

"With your hair color? Seriously? No, I'm going with the green..." He had relinquished Sakura's arm and already put the dollar into the claw machine.

"We're meant to be in position within the next three minutes and thirty seconds, and you're asking me what goddamn color I want... and then you don't even listen..."

"You're the one who wanted to go undercover in the first place, and with this kind of operation, it's the details that'll make it believable. The more they trust us and believe us, the more likely we are to get information." In between his sentences Kakashi paused briefly in concentration, moving the claws with some measure of expertise. "If we're going to do this then we are going to do it right."

Sakura might have been impressed with his newfound enthusiasm if it weren't for the time pressure hanging over her head. No matter how many times she tisked or tapped her feet Kakashi didn't seem to be deterred from this sudden and infuriating task. For Sakura the anxiety seemed to be growing with every second, she'd stuck her neck out suggesting they go undercover, the stakes were high enough without Kakashi delaying them from getting into position.

"I know you don't take anything seriously, Kakashi, but this is…" Sakura turned back to face him after nervously looking over her shoulder toward the direction of the pet store. "This is…"

"Here." Kakashi had gotten his prize, a small plastic egg with the gaudiest fake emerald ring inside, he picked it out and examined it. "If you squint or move your hand quickly enough it won't look too much like plastic."

"You are such a-"

"Thoughtful partner? Yes, I know, it's my biggest flaw really. Only the best for my undercover wife." Kakashi put the ring into her hand and moved away, leaving her there blinking in astonishment. "Hurry up and put it on, you're going to make us late."

There wasn't any time left for her to vent her frustrations to him verbally, she made a mental note to save it for later, jamming the ring onto her finger and hurriedly catching up to him. This time when Kakashi positioned his arm for her to take, she made sure to squeeze him just enough to bruise him, it was all she could think to get back at him in the moment but it only served to widen his smile.

The automatic doors opened to the pet store as soon as they approached. Sakura had already scoped some of the layout briefly from the store website, but she made sure to map it carefully now that she was here physically. The interior was jam packed with shelves laden with all kinds of pet paraphernalia, it was the kind of place where you needed to tuck your sides in so you didn't knock anything over. Despite this Kakashi still wanted her arm tucked into his, any attempt she made to loosen herself was met with his tightening grip. No employee came to assist them so they spent a good minute just looking around the place, Kakashi took pause at the shelves with dog accessories.

"Pakkun would look good in this…" Sakura mumbled absent-mindedly.

"There is no way he would be seen in plaid. What about this one?"

"Denim? You think denim is better than plaid, oh sweetie… No, put it back."

"I could get him this faux leather one, then I could get one to match-"

"I know that you think that's the greatest idea of all time judging by the look on your face but you need to know that I'm here to stop that from happening if it's the last thing I do. Say no to matching couples, Kakashi."

"Everyone said it was cute at the Christmas party…"

"Yeah, well they were lying, and this year I'll be there to stop you from embarrassing yourself and Pakkun."

"I'm still not getting him the plaid…" Kakashi was mid pout when they were suddenly confronted by someone working at the store.

"Are you guys looking for anything in particular?"

The employee didn't have the kind of look that screamed 'drug dealer', but Sakura also knew that appearances could be deceiving. The one thing they knew for definite about the Akatsuki was that they operated with extreme caution and stealth so as not to be caught. And they had been doing it for a long time. So, even if this young man seemed to be just like every other pet store clerk, Sakura wasn't going to drop her guard.

"I told him, I told him we should have asked before buying anything, now you have no idea what you're doing-" Sakura addressed her words to Kakashi through the store clerk, just as they had rehearsed.

"That's why we're here, darling. We're actually looking for aquarium stuff and got distracted."

"It's our one month wedding anniversary, and _this one_ decided to buy some tropical fish online-"

"I thought it would remind us of the snorkeling we did on our honeymoon, sweet heart..."

"And it's so thoughtful honey, I know, but I think there's a lot more work to it than you realize."

It felt odd to Sakura, to be hanging onto Kakashi's arm and throwing terms of endearment back and forth, she just really hoped that the clerk was buying their little display. She was also grateful that there wasn't anyone else here from the precinct to witness it, she was already going to face enough teasing about this from Kakashi let alone the other detectives. She was nothing if not a professional, so she would carry this out to the letter and gut anyone who made fun of her later.

"We keep the majority of our aquarium stuff around the back here, what exactly are you looking for?" The clerk motioned for them to follow a few shelves over, poky and small it became harder to stay so close to Kakashi without knocking things off the shelves. But he would not let her go.

"We've only had it for a couple of days-"

"Takes up the whole living room-"

"And the water has gone green."

"Depending on how many liters your tank is, you're going to need an algae killer that won't harm the fish. Do you have a filter set up? The water has got plenty of oxygen and live plants in it?"

Kakashi and Sakura exchanged glances. Between the two of them they had a passable knowledge of fish and the associated equipment, but they were playing a part here, and they needed to keep their stories straight.

"Ohh, algae killer, that's what the internet said to do..."

"There's some oxygen weed that came with the tank, the filter is plugged in and working... it's about this big, right dear?" Kakashi gestured to the size with his hands, looking for Sakura's approval.

It was all going according to plan, the store person seemed to believe their cover story, and Sakura was able to get a good enough glimpse of a name badge without looking too suspicious. Kakashi was able to keep talking about the various kinds of tank care products while Sakura discerned what security cameras were in place. She was looking for the red flags, anything that might suggest that the pet store was a front for pushing drugs. Just because this guy seemed to know his stuff didn't mean his employer wasn't up to something shady.

The next part was to locate the specific brand that the bijuu had been stashed in. As the conversation about the fish continued, Kakashi asking questions about the different products, Sakura listening while pretending to be disinterested. Really she was looking for the Aquafin and after a moment she spotted it.

"What about this one?" She delicately picked a white bottle from the shelf, the one that read Aquafin on the label, there were perhaps two dozen sitting there. She also noticed the layer of dust on this particular bottle. "Why is it so expensive? Does that mean it's better than the others?"

"No." The clerk answered with just a hint of derisive snort, Sakura had to remind herself not to react with disdain as she usually would. "I don't know why we even sell that one here, I used it for one of the display tanks once and it didn't work, killed some of the fish."

"Jesus, why is it still on the shelves?"

The clerk shrugged.

"Manager paid a bit to get it in here, supposedly a big seller at some of our other franchises, so he wants to make his money back. I really would recommend, as beginners, that you go with something more like this-"

Kakashi got back into a heavy discussion with him, distracting him enough for Sakura to open the bottle quickly without being seen. There were no drugs, feeling a little disheartened she went to put it back on the shelf, the others were just as covered in dust.

_Except one._

It was the only clean one there, and the seal around the lid had been already broken. Sakura glanced to Kakashi from the corner of her eye before giving him the most surreptitious nudge to the ribs she could manage, at her signal his other arm jerked, knocking a row of neat boxes onto the floor.

Amidst the insisting that Kakashi help him set the display back up, Sakura was able to roll her sleeve down and pick up the suspicious bottle without having to touch it with her hands. She deposited it quickly into her pocket and made apologies for her 'husband'. Within the next five minutes they had bought a few items and left the store, as soon as they were at a distance secure enough to talk Kakashi was asking questions.

"Did you get it?"

"The bottle is in my pocket yeah, I was careful not to touch it too, before you ask me that."

"Hey, I know you're not going to make some rookie mistake like that. What did you think of the place?"

"Honestly? I don't know, it seems like a legit store front from the off set, but who's to say what's happening behind the scenes. I don't want to exhaust the task force by adding surveillance detail for the pet shops selling Aquafin. What do you think, Kakashi? Why do you think there was an empty bottle on the shelf?"

"Well..." Kakashi paused, Sakura only just realizing her arm was still tangled with his and withdrew it. "I've seen something similar, for my thinking, the store has no idea they are being used as a fence."

"A fence?"

"Yeah, a fence for illegal activity, they are using the pet stores as dead drops and pickups for the drugs and money. My guess is that bottle you picked up was empty because it's meant to hold money, someone tied to the gang collects the money and leaves the product in the empty bottle. Something like that..."

"Oh, shit. I should have left it in the store, if someone comes in to leave money and it's gone they might be tipped off..."

"No, you made the right call. We might be able to lift prints from that bottle, or swab the insides to be sure the drug was ever in it in the first place, then we have probable cause tying the stores and the company to the drug. Don't doubt yourself, Haruno, I wouldn't have let you take it if I didn't think it pertinent to the case."

Sakura released a deep breath she didn't realize she'd been holding in.

"So I guess now we regroup and see what the others turned up. We still have a night's worth of footage to comb through..."

"Yeah, sounds great." Kakashi said absent-mindedly.

"What do you mean, great? Have you lost your marbles old man?"

"Huh? No, look, I'll meet you at the car, there's something I need to take care of..." There was no time for rebuttal, he was already walking away.

"Is it really the right time to be..."

"I need a new jacket, sweet heart, mine got blown up this morning..." he shouted with a wave as he disappeared into a men's apparel store.

Sakura wasn't sure just how many times she rolled her eyes while she waited for Kakashi to return. Instead of gloating that she had been right about him not owning another jacket she settled for silence on their way back to the precinct. He hadn't taken him too long to find a new one, and it was infinitely more acceptable than the singed scraps they'd left at the crime scene. Sakura's mind was going in circles about the case so much that she barely noticed the time, barely noticed Kakashi muttering to himself about traffic.

When they arrived back to the precinct they discovered that most of the undercover ops had also wrapped up quickly and reported in. Of the ten pet stores that were listed as stocking Aquafin, only four of the stores had any on the shelves, the others had pulled them from the stores when it was discovered to be an inferior product. Of those four stores, each had a mysterious empty bottle on the stand, and Sakura had been the only detective to take the bottle. She knew there had been a risk in doing so, but on the off chance they could get something from it, prints, trace amounts... it was at least a tiny thing to show for the stint that had been her idea to begin with.

There wasn't much left to the afternoon once all the paperwork and chain of custody documentation was completed. The empty bottle had been formally submitted and from the moment Sakura sat at her desk she expected the Captain to come out of her office to scold her. She dreaded to think what Tsunade would have to say about her taking that bottle and taking that risk, the anxious energy only built but the haranguing never came.

"Which footage did you want to start with?" Kakashi sighed from the other side of the monitor.

"Well, what do we have left to finish, the storage locker, the gas station Mizuki worked for, the gas station that the transport van was taken from..."

"Ugh... There's also Samantha Winters workplace, and once my warrant goes through, the pet stores as well. This is going to be a long and uncomfortable night. I might go for a caffeine run first, then we can get down to it, you want pizza for dinner?"

"No, I do not want pizza for dinner, again. This is ridiculous, do we have to watch this footage here in the stuffy precinct or can we take it home? I'd rather a home cooked meal, feels like it's been weeks since I had one..."

"If you can work out how to transport all the data from here to your place then I don't see the problem with it. There's just too much of it to store on a DVD so I don't know how you'll-"

"Pfft, Kakashi, seriously... DVD? You've got to be kidding me. All this is stored on the precincts discord server, all I need is a laptop that has the program downloaded, then I can plug it into my tv at home."

"Wait, seriously? You can do that?" The mass of silver hair popped above the monitor he'd been staring at.

"Yes I can do that, I'm an all powerful sorceress of technology, Hatake. What do you say? I'll check a laptop out of the equipment locker and we could head to my place? Would be a lot more comfortable than this fucking-"

"I'm still picking up pizza on the way."

"Fine, but I'm not eating it."

She stood and made her way to the equipment storage, stealing a glance into the Captain's office, she was too busy to terrorize her own precinct and it did not bode well for Sakura's mind. Maybe if they got something in the footage, or at least got the work done, it would appease the diabolical mood Tsunade was likely to be in tomorrow.

Sakura took deep steadying breaths as she signed the forms for release, and it was here that something caught her eye, it was affixed to her own hand. The gaudy green plastic ring was still there on her finger. It sufficed to dissipate some of that nervous energy within her before she smiled tiredly and walked back to her desk. Kakashi was on the phone when she got there.

"Okay, yeah, never mind then, I'll sort something out. Bye." He sighed even louder than before and it prompted Sakura to ask what was wrong, but he beat her to it. "Pakkun's sitter is out of town."

"Bring him over." Sakura was already grabbing her jacket.

"Are you sure? What about that ball of fluff you call a cat?"

"She'll be fine, I'm sure Pakkun would at least appreciate a home cooked meal. See you in about half an hour?" She'd phrased it as a question but didn't wait for an answer, making her way across the bullpen at lightning speed, not even bothering to say goodnight to the Captain.

Sakura wanted to be out of there, she wanted to be away from those walls so she could think, wanted a brief reprieve from the pressure that was on her shoulders. Kakashi had been a headache earlier that day but by the end of it she was back to quietly appreciating him. He managed to somehow challenge her decisions while also supporting them, he wasn't going to let her make any mistakes…

But her thoughts turned dark before she reached the safe confines of her apartment. There was so much at stake here, their only lead to a criminal organization working within Konoha, one that was deadly. They had already taken Kakashi's last partner away from him, and what if that bottle she found held nothing of value? What if she'd not only wasted officers time and resources, but tipped off the distributors of the bijuu? What if they went to ground now and there was no more leads to follow….

_This must be how Kakashi felt for the past year…_

Despite her best efforts to shake the thought from her mind it lingered, festering while she quickly showered and changed. She had hoped the shower would also wash away her doubts, but showers are better for amplifying thoughts rather than quelling them. At least she didn't smell like ash anymore, that was the consolation prize, she'd have to soak her clothes to get that smell out though.

Sakura usually kept a pretty tidy kitchen, and since she hadn't been cooking in it for a couple weeks it was especially tidy. She had known what she was going to make the second she'd had the idea at the precinct. Something that was quick, easy and healthy. Pork mince with coleslaw served in lettuce wraps, a kind of moo shu pork that was far healthier than the greasy stuff Kakashi seemed to eat every day.

The doorbell rang as soon as she'd started heating the pan, Kakashi knew the code to get into her building now but she wasn't about to give him a key to the place. With a quick glance she determined that Lady Katsuyu was sleeping in her bed on top of the highest cabinet, it was just as well, as soon as she opened the door Pakkun came running into the place. Sakura barely glanced to Kakashi, leaving him to shut the door, rubbing Pakkun's scraggly head and heading back into the kitchen.

"That smells really good." Kakashi murmured, dropping a massive shopping bag onto the kitchen counter.

"What you're smelling is the absence of MSG and grease, Kakashi. What the hell have you brought into my house?"

"Well, I came prepared. I've got 6 different kinds of blue liquid to keep us awake, I've got licorice and other sweet treats, I've got potato chips…"

"Dear god, have you also got a defibrillator with you?"

"Take it you don't want any, such a shame, I got these just for you…"

Sakura recognized the bag of doughnuts before he even opened it for her to see.

"I will... make an exception for that in particular. We can't go without dessert, right? We're not heathens."

"Speak for yourself, Haruno."

"Where's your pizza?"

"Well, it appears as if Pakkun has lost his taste for pizza, when we got to the usual he refused to sit still and dragged me down the street."

"Pakkun is also sick of your eating habits, Hatake."

Sakura smiled at her own quip, she'd made enough for the both of them anyway. Kakashi disappeared into the living room with a bottle of the blue sugar liquid, when she poked her head out he was turning on the precinct laptop and logging in. She smiled again, since she'd shown him how to log into the system he made a habit of showing off the knowledge at every possible opportunity. Forgoing the dinner table Sakura brought their plates into the living room, one for Kakashi and one for Pakkun, he seemed to know it was for him before she spoke a word.

"Wait, what is that?" Kakashi gestured to the smaller bowl.

"It's some of Lady Katsuyu's food..."

"Cat food? You're giving Pakkun cat food? Jesus Christ."

"Hey, if it's good enough for her, it'll be good enough for him."

Pakkun ate the entirety of the bowl in lightspeed despite the looks that his master was throwing in his direction. Before she retrieved her own plate, Sakura turned on the television to the setting they would need, Kakashi was already bringing it up on screen by the time she got back. The conversation drifted while they ate, picking which footage to watch was the first order of business. Kakashi had a few choice words about her cooking that she chose to ignore, it wasn't worth the blood stains on the couch to retaliate, and he still ate every bit of it. He even collected the plates from the kitchen after Pakkun had fallen asleep by Sakura's feet.

"You got wine glasses?" He called from the kitchen.

"Yes, I do, I'm a human adult, they are in the top cupboard on the left. Why do you want-?" She never finished the sentence, Kakashi came back into the room with two glasses and a bottle of something. "We're on duty, Kakashi..."

"I know that, it's low alcohol and low sugar which I thought you'd appreciate."

"I'm not drinking while we're meant to be working."

"I just figured we should celebrate, y'know. It is our one month anniversary after all."

Sakura blinked a few times, thinking back to their undercover mission today before the pieces fell together.

"Wow, we really have been working together for a month, huh. Well, I guess we have to drink to that."

"Exactly, also we almost got blown up this morning, a drink is called for."

"I can't refute your logic Detective Hatake, pour away."

Sakura had always made it a habit to stop drinking before her mental faculties were altered in any way. She didn't care for the taste of alcohol either which helped, that kind of thing had just never appealed to her, which is why her tolerance was set firm at zero. Thankfully she knew this going in and remembered to balance the wine with water.

"Oh Christ, this taste awful, sorry..."

"It's fine. I appreciate the gesture. It's also taking the edge off this mind numbing security footage. I know Mizuki's dead, but seeing him in this still makes my fists clench."

"You still jealous that you never got to punch him?"

"Yes, yes I am."

For the next few hours they both sipped at the wine before both switching to blue liquid. Sakura had protested a little at first but she was so tired and bored that the sugar would at least help her stay awake if nothing else. She would deal with the hangover from it later.

"I know what'll make this interesting..." Kakashi mumbled after a good twenty minute stretch of video in which no one entered the gas station.

"I'm game for anything at this stage, what have you got?"

She would regret those words later. Kakashi went to the kitchen, grabbed the bottle of shitty wine which still held over half its contents, he put it on the coffee table in front of Sakura.

"Obito used to play games like this. Okay, so, if you see someone fart take a drink."

"How can you _see _someone fart?"

"This is the argument I had at first but it's actually quite easy. Body language, Haruno, see just watch this guy here... Now drink..."

Sakura laughed and took a small swig direct from the bottle. It was really getting desperate if she was willing to indulge Kakashi's whimsical side.

"Okay, every time you see someone shoplift, you have to take a drink-"

"Oh, what, that's like every second customer, are you trying to get me drunk?"

"Payback bitch, now drink."

Suddenly it wasn't so bad to be working through this boring footage, if these little games were able to keep at least some of her sanity intact then she would gladly take it. They also served a larger purpose that Kakashi probably was unaware of, it was helping to distract her from the anxiety about the case and what Tsunade thought of her. All of that was forgotten for the moment while they worked together.

"I can't believe you're still wearing that." Kakashi nodded to her hand, she was almost surprised to see the ring still on her finger.

"What can I say, the green is growing on me..."

"Huh." Kakashi huffed in amusement. "Usually going undercover makes me tense, but... it was fun being married to you for a few minutes."

"Yeah, I bet that's all you could handle though."

They both were laughing now, with one eye on the television and the other glancing over to Kakashi, time seemed to pass more easily than before. Once the wine was finished it switched to taking shots of the blue liquid for their little game. Then they played for doughnuts and Sakura's competitive side came out violently, but she had never heard Kakashi laugh so much in the whole time they'd known each other.

At about 3am Sakura suddenly remembered the conversation they'd had at lunch, how Kakashi had unabashedly told her about his past and the reason why he became a cop.

"You know, I never actually thanked you for saving me this morning…"

"And you don't have to, Sakura, really…"

"No, no I should. I went against orders and put us both in danger, the least I can do is thank you for it."

"You were just being a good partner, nothing to say thank you for, it's what partners do. That being said, don't do something like that again, alright?"

She'd opened her mouth to argue, she'd been about to tear him a new one explaining her point that she would never react differently in that situation and that she would be the one to protect him next time. The words had been half way out her lips, but a sudden and all encompassing chill had frozen her mind and body, and it had been caused by something she had seen on the screen in front of them.

It had been brief, maybe ten or fifteen seconds of someone filling up their car, Mizuki in the background… But that was all it took to stop Sakura from being able to function. Kakashi took a moment to realize what was happening he hadn't been watching Sakura's reactions, but she registered his shifting to pause the screen.

"What is it? You see something?"

"Why was this date warranted for CCTV?"

"It was one of the days marked in Mizuki's book, the third or fourth contact with 'Hebi'..."

"Go back ten seconds."

Sakura stood, dislodging Pakkun from his sleeping position at her feet, Kakashi complied and Sakura stood right in front of the television. There was no mistaking it, she recognized that hair, that dark gaze, the gait, the suit…. _It had to be him. _

"What is it, Sakura?"

"Not what… who…." She felt her blood run cold with morbid excitement or terror, she couldn't be certain. "That's Sasuke, Sasuke Uchiha."


	19. Chapter 19

Bleary eyed and with a thumping headache, Kakashi did not let it deter him from giving his full concentration to Tsunade in this meeting. It had a distinct feeling, as if his very life and well being were on the line, the last thing he wanted was to piss her off by yawning. The room was tense, the entire precinct had been tense the moment they had entered. Kakashi had been expecting a few raised eyebrows at his arriving early with Sakura, but everyone seemed to be too caught up to make any insinuations about it.

Then the captain had immediately called them in.

He'd known that waking her with a phone call at 3am was a death sentence, but Sakura had insisted and when she was insistent she usually got her way. The captain had been briefed about what they had found on the security footage. Surprisingly enough, for Kakashi anyway, the captain was very gentle and soft spoken at the time of the call. But he'd attributed that to Sakura alone, having the Captain's niece for a partner certainly came with perks.

But here they were, first thing in the morning, tired from a long night of screen watching. The revelation at seeing Sasuke Uchiha talking to Mizuki had taken its toll on Sakura, maybe not visibly, but in her behavior. As they sat in Tsunade's office he could see the way her eyes were wide, her expression trained into impassiveness, it was an act she put on, a guard. So that no man could poke fun at her for having emotions.

"Before we address what you discovered last night, I've got the preliminary results in from the bottle you lifted from the pet store..." Tsunade was standing, leaning on her desk with narrowed eyes of concentration. "We've got a partial print, but more importantly, we got a positive result for traces of bijuu in the bottle."

"Oh thank god..."

"God had nothing to do with it, Sakura. You took a big risk taking that from the scene, so we need to move on this information, and fast. Kakashi, we're going with your plan, we're taking this directly to the manufacturer. Aquafin is made at a processing plant inside of Konoha, tonight we're raiding it, we've got the warrants all signed and ready."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"You two won't be participating in the raid, not after yesterday's incident with the bomb. But you do have a much more important task. We want to get every last drop of evidence we can from this factory before we go barging in there, I want you two stationed there all day on surveillance duty, I want pictures of everyone who goes in and out of the building during the day."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"We have plain clothes officers watching the building from an alleyway across the street in an undercover car. You'll go relieve them as soon as you're done interrogating Sasuke Uchiha."

Kakashi couldn't help the side glance to Sakura, he found that she was doing the same, for a second they met each others eye in mutual shock.

"You actually managed to bring him in?"

"Yes, I did. I called in a lot of favors to get it done quickly, so you had better make it worth the hassle. See what he has to say before he lawyers up then make your way to relieve the first surveillance unit. Dismissed."

Sakura stood in silence, making her way out into the bullpen faster than Kakashi could keep up. Following behind he eventually caught up to her outside the door to the observation room, with a silent nod to Kakashi she opened it and they entered. His eyes were drawn to the dark haired young man on the other side of the one way mirror, the suit he wore was the same raven color as his eyes. Sasuke looked more like a mortician than a doctor.

_What the hell did she even see in this guy?_

"You ever look at someone you used to date and just... wonder why..."

Sakura's ability to read his mind at times was less surprising now that it had been a few weeks ago, but it still unnerved him just a bit, he sincerely hoped she wasn't able to read his every thought.

"Everyone goes through a bad boy phase, Haruno. You thought you could fix him and make him into the man you wanted him to be."

"Don't you mean every girl?"

"That's what I said..."

"No, you said _everyone_ goes through a bad boy phase." Sakura's eyes had narrowed in his direction. "Kakashi, did you try to fix a bad boy too? Did he break your heart? _Is that why your hair is like that?_"

"No, what I meant was, I was the boy that- You know what, never mind. You're getting too much enjoyment out of this, don't insult the hair, Haruno."

"You're the one who called me bubblegum two weeks ago, remember?"

"No, I don't. Someone hit me over the head so hard afterwards I only recall being told about the incident."

Sakura laughed in that silent breathy way, but the way her arms crossed as she looked back out into the interrogation room through the mirror revealed more on her thoughts. She was trying to calm down, trying to distract herself. The man that sat in that room was the prime suspect in the murder of two people and had used her as an alibi. In the past weeks the two of them had discussed it in bits here and there, whenever Sakura was in the mood to reveal more about her past. One thing had become very clear to Kakashi, one does not leave Sasuke Uchiha without repercussions, and Sakura had faced those throughout her medical career. It was the reason for her walls and prickly exterior, that and being brought up in close proximity to Tsunade's influence... it was a diabolical concoction.

There was just no more evidence and no reason to call in Sasuke for the murder of his parents. And here they were, with a golden opportunity to bring him in for formal questioning in relation to the Kyuubi killer. As much as Kakashi wanted to smack some sense into the punk for what he'd put his partner through in the past, it wouldn't solve anything. They needed to be smart about this. They needed to go in with level heads and zero emotion.

He didn't want Sakura to walk into that room and panic, she'd been through many interrogations with the task force, but none of them had been a former lover. Most importantly he didn't want this Sasuke Uchiha to think he had the upper hand by being familiar with one of the lead detectives. Kakashi's mouth opened to speak, but she beat him to the punch.

"I don't think I should go in there."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. He's smart enough to try and use me to his advantage. But he won't hesitate to cry lawyer as soon as he sees me. He knows what I think of him and he'll site it as a conflict of interest and then anything he has said won't be usable. He's not as dumb as he looks."

Kakashi searched Sakura's eyes for any hint of hesitation or doubt, but she was still harder to read than he would care to admit. There was only one thing for it.

"What do you think, Sakura? Could it be him? What are your instincts telling you right now?"

She paused, her breath hitched as if he had caught her off guard with the question.

"Honestly, I really don't know at this point, the Kyuubi killer could be anyone... that doesn't exclude Sasuke. What we need is more evidence."

"Then we get more evidence."

Without another word Kakashi left the observation room to go into the interrogation suite. He probably should have made a point to ask Sakura if there was anything that he needed to know about Sasuke Uchiha, but he was confident in his ability and what he'd learned over the last few weeks. He knew the case, thanks to Sakura, he knew exactly what this guy had been like to her in the years following.

The atmosphere might have felt heavy when he entered, but this was always meant to be just a little chat about his contact with Mizuki. He wasn't going to tip Sasuke off to any of their major suspicions about the Kyuubi Killer. If he could disguise this as a formality it might build a false sense of security, maybe he would talk a little more freely. But Kakashi wasn't holding his breath.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Doctor Uchiha."

"Just Sasuke is fine."

"Thank you, Sasuke. I'm Detective Kakashi Hatake, I'm sure you're wondering why you're here."

"Not especially, I'm sure you've invented some kind of excuse."

Kakashi kept his expression blank, he kept his bemusement to himself. Sasuke Uchiha was certainly living up to his infamous reputation, but Kakashi had been around the block a few times to know how to handle those particular kinds of assholes.

"That so." Kakashi deliberately took his time, knowing it would vex Sasuke, he casually reached into his jacket pocket to retrieve his phone. "This is just a formality really, do you recall what you were doing on the 15th of August last year?"

"Have you just picked a random day or should I remember that obscure date for a reason?"

For some reason Kakashi had an impromptu vision of Sakura slamming her fists on the table and shouting, 'I'm the one asking the questions here, Jackass', and it was all he could do not to laugh. He could play cat and mouse all day if that's what it took, but they were meant to be relieving the surveillance team, and then there was the raid... Despite his patience Kakashi couldn't risk taking too much time. Luckily enough for him the silence prompted Sasuke to abandon an answer to his question.

"No, no I can't say that I do."

"Let me refresh your memory." Kakashi brought up the stilled picture on his phone of the interaction between Sasuke and Mizuki on that date. "Is this you at the gas station out by the off ramp to Konoha Hills?"

Sasuke barely looked at the image, his facial features remained carved in stone, Kakashi was mentally going through the ways he could get this bastard to make a mistake. Just one mistake was all he would need, one hint of emotion to lead him down the right path. The smirk that appeared on Sasuke's face was probably meant to be terrifying, but it only served to annoy Kakashi.

"Yeah, what of it."

"Do you remember any details about the attendant who served you that day?" Kakashi held the phone up, assuming his next quip would be about taking a closer look at the picture. Sasuke took the bait, or at least he appeared to, when his hand came out to physically take the phone Kakashi pulled it back. This wasn't his first day on the job, don't hand a suspect a detective's unlocked phone during an interrogation.

"What you afraid I'm going to steal it, old man? I'm a doctor, not some common criminal."

"Oh, I'm aware, it's not that. I just happen to have a lot of pornography on here and I'm not sure if I want to share it."

There was complete silence, Sasuke's eyebrow twitching imperceptibly as if the words had affected him maybe just a fraction. It was an excellent tactic that Kakashi had stored in his arsenal years ago, he'd watched Obito disarm enough perps with purposeful nuggets of self-deprecation. A lot of people thought Obito the fool for it, and Kakashi had never really worked out if it was intentional or not, but it had served a purpose.

No one suspected the man who made a fool of himself to actually have any brain power or motive behind the madness, the question remained, would Sasuke Uchiha fall for it?

"Huh." Sasuke made a noise halfway between a grunt and a laugh, Kakashi wasn't sure if it was at his expense or in general amusement. "He looks vaguely familiar, can't say I remember his name, maybe if you had a better phone I'd actually be able to see the picture clearly."

"Nothing wrong with a free department issued phone, it does what I need it to do..."

"You keep your porn on your work phone? You're not a very good detective, are you?

"Or, I'm an excellent detective because my superior officers have yet to discover where I keep my pornography."

"What makes you think I won't march up to your Captain and tell them?"

It sounded mildly threatening in that monotone of his, but Kakashi was no stranger to upstarts.

"What makes you think that any officer in this precinct will believe anything _you _have to say?"

There was a flicker across Sasuke's features, one that would probably disturb or frighten a lesser man, as if he were issuing a silent challenge. Kakashi wasn't about to take the bait, there was no contest here.

"You cop types, you're all the same, think your smarter and better than everyone else. You should learn to act nice to people if you want to get any information from them, did they not teach you that on your six month course or have you just forgotten with age..." Sasuke had a smirk the entire time he spoke and Kakashi tried to remember that his partner could be wrong, this man could be innocent of all the crimes he was suspected of, but instinct was telling him otherwise and it took everything in him not to bite back with just as much venom. "What did you say your name was, Hatake, right? Didn't you used to be somebody?"

Kakashi wasn't going to make the same mistakes as Kiri, he wasn't going to arrest this punk without any evidence, he wouldn't risk ruining the case that he and Sakura were building. He knew this and wouldn't break that resolve for anything, but the temptation to punch this little upstart was growing.

_It's Sakura's turn to punch a perp, remember?_

"Listen, Mr. Uchiha, we both have places to be..."

"It's Doctor Uchiha, I didn't go through seven years of medical school to be called Mr."

"And I didn't become the best Detective in Konoha by giving in to the demands of suspects. Do you admit to knowing this man?" Kakashi brought up Mizuki's mug shot on his phone, Sasuke's smirk never wavered, he truly believed that he had the upper hand in this.

"You have a picture of me talking with him and you're asking me that? Wow, you really must be fishing here, huh."

"Just answer the question so that we can both get out of here."

"I don't know what to tell you, I met the guy sure, can't say that I knew him all that well. How well do you know the guy who valet's your car? Oh, wait let me guess, department issued car... doubt you would need a valet for a clown car."

Now it was Kakashi's turn to smirk and he did so in full view of Sasuke.

"That's all I needed to know, thank you for coming in, Doctor Uchiha."

He stood, looked towards the mirrored glass where he knew Sakura would be watching and nodding. Sasuke had meant it as an insult, goaded by Kakashi, and he had also just admitted to using Mizuki Tsubaki as his valet. The man who cleaned cars for the Akatsuki. Sasuke stood, and when Kakashi put his hand out for the man to shake it was blatantly ignored with a scoff. Rolling his eyes but still with that cocky and confident smugness, Sasuke Uchiha left the building, two large suit wearing men accompanying him. Kakashi watched him leave before heading to the observation room to find Sakura.

She had her arms folded, staring out at the chair Sasuke had been occupying moments earlier, a coy smile on her face.

"What kind of doctor needs two security guards?" Kakashi asked upon entering.

"Hmm, one is security, the other is his driver, Suigetsu and Jugo. And it's because he can't do anything for himself, Kakashi." Her eyes turned to meet his. "I can't believe you did that. You just got him to confess to using Mizuki as his valet without him even realizing that's what you were after."

"Well, he'll realize it soon I'm sure if he hasn't already. If he's going to treat this like a game then I'm happy to play, and we've still got our secret weapon up our sleeve."

"Secret weapon?"

"Yeah, you." Kakashi tried to genuinely smile just a fraction, but he was still coming down from that confrontational energy, so he probably just looked deranged. Which explained why Sakura laughed every so slightly. "Come one, let's gear up and go relieve that team. We can debrief while we're watching the place."

Erring on the side of caution was always Kakashi's first rule when it came to surveillance, but after that questioning there was a different kind of prerogative on his mind. He wanted to get these guys badly, he wanted to tie this case together in a neat bow, his instincts were practically screaming at him the whole time they prepared their kits.

If Sasuke Uchiha was guilty of anything, they would be the ones to make him answer for it.

Kakashi was making checklists in his own mind, coming up with a strategy for their next steps when it came to the Kyuubi killer. First things first, get this surveillance done, find out what was left of the Mizuki crime scene, look at those photos Shizune sent, get the reports from the bomb squad about what kind of explosives were used and if they can be traced...

"Kakashi!" Sakura practically shouted his name from the driver's seat.

"Huh, what? Sorry, I was..."

"You were going through the case, I know, but you could at least include me in it. I was asking you what we need to do for the hand off."

"Oh, right, we've got to time this exactly so as not to raise suspicion, so we'll be taking a position in a different alleyway to the previous unit. They should be leaving when we signal them of our arrival."

"Radio them now, we're four blocks away."

"What? Already?"

"Yeah, you were spacing out for a while there. You didn't even answer when I offered to stop for snacks."

"Aw."

He wanted to add that he didn't need food to sustain him in this moment, he just needed evidence, it was all he could think about. But Sakura would probably have him committed to that mental institution that she threatened him with every so often. The car had barely stopped moving when Kakashi took out the camera and lenses, sitting still and waiting would be the hardest part. Making sure his attention would stay solely on the task at hand, he surrendered his phone to the holster on the dash, if it rang now Sakura would probably answer it and he wouldn't have to.

"I meant to ask you about your questioning tactic, Hatake."

"Ask away, which tactic is that, by the way?"

"Well..:" Sakura shuffled uncomfortably and went silent for a few seconds. "It had to be a tactic, you don't _actually _keep porn on your phone, do you?"

"I mean, _technically _it's not porn..."

"Oh my god, Kakashi you can't be serious..."

"It's called erotic literature and it's an art form rather than just straight pornography, I was using a more recognized term for the benefit of the suspect."

"You are something else, if Tsunade knew..."

"Tsunade does know and we make recommendations to each other every couple of weeks. Did you want to read some?" He made to pick up his phone, assuming Sakura would reject the offer with a shake of her head.

"I thought you didn't want to share it?"

"Well, with friends, yeah I'll share. Not with some slimy perp we've brought in for questioning. He probably wouldn't understand the descriptive language in any case, being an emotionally stunted robot..."

"Kakashi..."

"Not that there's anything wrong with being a robot, but you have to admit the tactic worked well, he assumed I was an idiot and after something else entirely..."

"Kakashi!"

Sakura's voice was hushed and urgent, she was slouching down in the driver's seat ever so slightly, indicating with a pointed finger to a spot across the street where a vehicle had just pulled up.

"Oh, right, surveillance."

He adjusted the camera, taking photos of the licence plates and the two men that exited it. They entered the facility for approximately ten minutes and then returned back to their vehicle and left. This vantage point was less than ideal, if they'd had more time he would have organized a rooftop observation. He had only managed to get profile pictures of the two males when he would have much rather a full profile.

"Fine." Sakura spoke with a sigh. "Show me the damn erotic literature..."

The sudden outburst broke through his frustrated train of thought.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, we're gonna be here for a while and it's going to be boring as hell. You've got first shift with the camera, right?" She even had the audacity to hold her hand out and gesture for him to hand her the phone.

"Well before you read it, lose the attitude and open your mind, this kind of thing is a seriously unappreciated artform..."

"Uh huh. If I read the words 'throbbing manhood' you'll lose yours, got it?"

"Noted." Kakashi maintained eye contact with her so as not to show fear to the predator before swiping to unlock his phone. Sakura broke the staring contest first.

"You changed the background picture on your phone..."

"Yeah..."

"Wait, is that Pakkun... in the plaid jacket you hated so much?" She seemed to take great delight in snatching the phone and watching Kakashi rake a hand through his hair. "When did you even have time to get it?"

"Last night, when I went to get pizza with Pakkun, we stopped at the pet store... thought I would let him choose his own jacket. And it was a mistake because the only one he would put on was the goddamn plaid..."

"He looks so handsome!"

Sakura looked almost as smug as Pakkun had looked when he'd begrudgingly taken the photo. No longer interested in reading anything she seemed happy just scrolling through the many photos of Pakkun that were in his gallery. There were a number of case file pictures on there as well, but the majority was that little ball of happiness in various outfits and situations. Sakura's favorite was the candlelit dinner that Kakashi had taken Pakkun to for his birthday, at least he assumed it was her favorite by the way she practically giggled when she saw it.

While she was perusing and asking the odd question it had an added side effect of keeping Kakashi grounded. He'd been excited for some developments when he needed to remain patient. It didn't ebb any of the frustration he felt at their current position though, and by the time another car pulled up with a load of people he was thoroughly pissed off by it.

"Fuck it." He muttered, ignoring Sakura's mock gasp at the swear before getting out of the vehicle.

"Hatake." She whispered in that harsh tone. "They could see you! Get back in the car!"

"What is the goddamn point if all I'm getting is useless side shots? If I stand here I can focus the camera and get a full profile photo while still being in sight of the factory, I can get multiple angles..."

"None of it fucking matters if you blow our cover, just get back in the car."

"Trust me, Haruno. I'll get some better shots and you'll see. Unless they park literally next to this building and look down the alley they aren't going to see us."

Kakashi turned back to the camera, ignoring the displeased expression on her face, another flawless Tsunade impression. Eventually Sakura came to stand next to him, the car was parked behind them and further down the alley. It was such a narrow window to do any kind of proper surveillance from.

"You know what your problem is, right Hatake?" It was rhetorical in his mind, she was going to tell him regardless of his answer. "Stop jumping in and thinking later, it's the bomb all over again..."

"I had to give that a shot though, I've disarmed bombs before..."

"Read the situation though, don't just shove your face into an explosive, and you really shouldn't be standing here... It could compromise the whole investigation..."

"Shut up."

"Excuse me? You can't tell me to-"

"Sakura, shut up..."

Kakashi moved quick but it wasn't quick enough, though they were safely out of view from anyone coming in or out of the factory, they were in plain sight to the vehicles coming in the opposite direction. And this one was driving awfully slowly past the alley way. Kakashi had managed to stow the camera behind some trash on the ground, turning so that his whole body covered Sakura, his hands on either side of her head. On the off chance this was a drive by there was no way he would let her get hurt.

_Why had he been so careless?_

"I don't think they saw us..." Sakura whispered, craning her head to watch the vehicle slowly move away. "This is why-"

The sound of car doors opening made her freeze. They needed cover and they needed it fast, and there was only one thing Kakashi could think of. Just as a shadow of a figure caught the corner of his eye, Kakashi lowered his face level to Sakura's. He crashed his lips down onto hers without a second thought, she seemed surprised at first... but then she reciprocated with just as much fervor. He took a step closer to her and their bodies met as well as their lips. He kept his hands against the cool bricks of the building, pressing Sakura into it with his own body.

A moment ago he'd been frightened, tense, he'd been acutely aware of his surroundings and the danger... A moment ago he hadn't been kissing Sakura. Something began to burn within him. It would occur to Kakashi later that the problem with his little acting tactic, whether it be the role of the fool, the husband or the hopeless romantic who had to have someone in an alleyway... Sometimes when those lines were blurred it was impossible to tell just what was the truth and what was the act.

It was the kind of kiss that he'd read about but never participated in, the kind where your whole being goes into the other person and you truly share yourself. He was barely able to concentrate when he felt her timid hands on his chest, fisting his shirt while their tongues danced. The need for air was the only thing that separated them. Breathing heavily, faces barely an inch apart Sakura managed to find her voice first, though it was unlike any tone he'd ever heard from her before.

"Are they gone?"

He was fairly sure they had left the second they had looked down the alleyway some thirty seconds ago, but there was some unnamed force that wanted to keep their lips together, pressed against each other as if trying to occupy the same space.

"Not sure..." He whispered, "let's be cautious."

His mind was racing again in a whole other way trying to name whatever maddening sensation had come over him as their tongues met again. It had taken over the both of them, Sakura was meeting him equally, battling for the upper hand. Could it be written off as a byproduct of their shared passion for their work, their case? Was it simply due to the passion with which Sakura tackled every part of her job? Kakashi struggled to name whatever was racing through his mind, his body, but the only thing that repeated itself and stood out was _passion._

Time was a variable that no longer existed for Kakashi, it could have been seconds, minutes or hours and he wouldn't have been able to tell. All that mattered was the body that pressed so nicely against his and the lips that tasted so good...

The noise of the police radio in the car startled them both so badly that they separated, without looking at each other they both hurried back to the car. Kakashi got there first and answered the radio.

"Report in, unit 13, report in, over."

"Unit 13, responding, in position, over."

He hung up the receiver, still standing at the door to the car, Sakura standing at the other side. They locked eyes and Kakashi couldn't help but feel a little proud at the spreading blush on her cheeks, that little stunt had affected her just as much as it had done to him. They both laughed and the tension in the air broke for just a moment.

"Well..." Kakashi spoke first. "That was..."

"Yeah, it was..."

A noise from the other side of the alley caught their attention, it was from the entrance they had used, a trash can had toppled to its side. Behind it was a man, crouched and with his own camera. For a split second he didn't move and they all regarded each other, but then he made a run for it. Kakashi was already halfway down the alley by the time Sakura started to sprint. The perp had blond hair poking out from under a baseball cap and tried to block their path with trash. He cut corners to try and shirk them, but Sakura was too quick for both men.

Kakashi watched as she targeted the man around his knees and brought him crashing to the ground. The cap came flying off and revealed a long blond ponytail. Kakashi had drawn his weapon before the guy had even rolled over, Sakura was right there next to him in a heartbeat.

"Hands in the air, now!"

He was more indignant than he was terrified, holding his hands up beside his head lamely, a mouth and tongue tattooed at his wrist.

"Alright, alright, you got me! Put the damn guns down."


	20. Chapter 20

It was another one of those days where Sakura could not have predicted what would happen next in any way, shape or form. Here she was standing in the observation room where her day had begun with the questioning of her ex boyfriend, she was filled with shock and nervous energy still.

But this time it had nothing to do with the case and everything to do with the heated moment that had occurred in the alleyway.

It had been for cover and nothing more, and that's what she had to keep telling herself, but she still found herself shocked beyond all reasonable measure... that she had found herself enjoying it in the moment. It had caused too many feelings to arise and more than anything she wanted to lock them away just for a moment so that she could catch her breath. They still had a job to be done here and it wouldn't help to be daydreaming about an encounter with her partner, that had been done _for cover and nothing more._

"What did this guy say his name was again?"

Kakashi's voice cut through the fugue she had fallen into.

"He's only given us an alias so far, Deidara. What's our strategy here?"

"I think we should both go in there, find out what he was up to and who he's affiliated with. We also need to do it before Tsunade finds out that we've brought him in... or we'll have bigger problems to deal with."

Sakura cringed visibly as she thought about it. Her aunt was likely going to be as volatile as she could be after learning they had botched the surveillance duty. By the time they'd found someone to cover them, the Aquafin factory was silent as the grave, the relief team were baffled as to why they'd been called in the first place. The details of their tension fraught kiss had been left out of the initial report but there would be many questions later and they both knew it was a matter of time. Though they'd not spoken one word about it. It didn't seem so prudent to do so in front of the suspect on the way to the precinct, and now it just seemed too awkward to bring up. It wasn't the time.

"Have you got the camera we confiscated from him?"

"Yeah, I've got it here, let's check what's on it before we go in there. See if we can find out what this guy was after."

It would have been easier to see the images if they had taken the camera to one of their desks and plugged it into a computer, but time was of the essence. For the first few images on the display, Sakura wondered if they were dealing with some kind of delinquent. Pictures of twisted shapes, metals, dead birds, piles of garbage laid out in peculiar patterns... but these weren't the pictures that shook her to her core. It was a series of pictures, the last ones taken on the card, shadowy images of two figures pressed up against each other in an alleyway. The worst part being a close up of the two and Sakura could see her face had been as pink as her hair.

"Perverted little shit-"

"He might be a pervert, but look, Sakura..." Kakashi zoomed in on a spot on the small screen, shifting the focus beyond the canoodling couple. "That's the guy who was watching us in the alley, we've got a full profile picture of him thanks to this weirdo..."

"Well, that's... something. You know that we can't ever show these photos to Tsunade, right?"

"We can if we crop us out of it. But I'm more worried about Gai or Genma finding them to be honest, wouldn't put it past them to blow them up all over the precinct..."

"You're more scared of that than Tsunade's wrath? The woman who threw a chair out of her office window because it squeaked too much?"

Sakura didn't realize how close her face was to Kakashi's while they both scrutinized the tiny display screen of the camera. Her eyes flicked to his, watching as he appeared to be paused in deep thoughts.

"Unless we have some kind of peace offering, let's just get whatever information this guy has, then we identify this punk in the picture."

"What makes you think this guy has anything to do with it?"

"Which one?"

"Either of them, Kakashi. This miscreant probably has no information that's worth anything, unless it's handing himself in for being a voyeur. The other guy was probably just wondering why two people were going at it in an alleyway, maybe he thought you were mugging me..."

"Don't judge a book by it's cover, Haruno. Something in my gut is telling me that we're onto something, trust me?"

Even if he couldn't say why or what exactly his gut was telling him, Sakura found that she couldn't argue with him when he worded it like that. She did trust him, she trusted him with her life, he'd shielded her from a goddamn bomb not so long ago. Trusting him was the least she could do.

Swallowing any comebacks that had sprung to mind along with some of her pride, Sakura nodded and they both headed into the interrogation room. Deidara sat waiting for them, shackled to the table just as Mizuki had been weeks ago.

"Well, well. If it isn't the love birds, finally managed to pry apart long enough to grace me with your presence..."

"That's Detective's Haruno and Hatake to you. Deidara, was it? Care to give us a last name?" Kakashi dove straight in before he had even sat down.

"It's just Deidara you morons, I'm an artist, there is no last name..."

"So if we type that name into our system of known aliases, we won't come up with anything?"

"You can try, but the only thing you'll get on me is my hoards of adoring fans."

"Alright, wise guy. How about you start by telling us what you were doing in that alleyway and why you ran from police?"

He was young, cocky, he had all the markings of someone who had been on the wrong side of the tracks for the majority of his life. But Sakura was trying not to judge by the cover, as Kakashi had told her, the tattoos on the guy and the smirk on his pretty little face made her fists clench though.

"You fools wouldn't understand anyway, like I said, I'm an artist. I don't have to explain my motivations in pursuing my craft."

"Why don't you try us-" Sakura was preparing herself to pander to him for information when she was interrupted by Kakashi as he made a show of scrolling through Deidara's camera they had confiscated.

"You call this art, huh? Looks an awful lot like trash to me…"

"Like I said, fool, you wouldn't understand, you see trash but it's art. My specialty is taking the ordinary, the mundane, the ugly and turning into something beautiful. That's the only reason I took a photo of your little _display _of affection in that alleyway. Your superior officers know you were making out on the job, by the way?"

Sakura opened her mouth to send a volley of insults in the blonds direction, but Kakashi raised a hand to caution her and she only quietly fumed instead, he seemed to have a game plan here that she was unaware of.

"That was for cover, not for you to spy on. Does peeping count as art now too, huh?"

"Even Buddha loses his patience when insulted a third time, Detective…"

That was the final straw for Sakura, from both of the men in that room, she'd had enough.

"Alright, that's enough. Answer the damned question, what were you doing in that alley?"

"Hey, I have every right to be in that alleyway, it's adjacent to my gallery. Did you two have permission to be there, making out…" Deidara was silenced by what Sakura considered to be her very best death glare. "Look, my investors have pushed the gallery exhibition forward by a week and I need to find more content by tonight. Beauty is everywhere, so I went looking, that's it. I didn't mean to interrupt your little sesh…"

"You think that's why we brought you in here?" Kakashi scoffed as he spoke, the effect on Deidara was noticeable though, his eyes widened.

"Well, yeah, I wasn't doing anything wrong, you were the ones trespassing on private property…"

"We've already got you on two counts". Sakura decided to take over from here, lest it become a battle of the male egos. "One for resisting arrest and the other for impeding an ongoing investigation, so you better start making a whole lot more sense before I decide to draw this out for as long as possible."

"You wouldn't…"

"Legally I've got 24 hours of your time. I can keep you in here all night, when did you say your gallery opening was…"

She would never forget the look of legitimate fear that crossed his features. For a brief moment she was completely sure that she had him on the ropes, whether or not Kakashi had anticipated and goaded her into intervening was beside the point. If it was all a tactic it had been for nothing.

"Wait." Kakashi interrupted and Sakura momentarily steered her anger towards him. "Did you say, that the alley was adjacent to your gallery?"

But he had a point that she was suddenly also curious about.

"Yeah, I'm going for something beautiful inside of something ugly, those old factories are perfect for…"

"Adjacent to that alley is the Aquafin factory for Konoha distribution..."

"You fools really don't know anything, they moved out weeks ago and I moved in. It's my new fortress of solitude for my art, and I get to display whatever I like, so you can both suck-"

Kakashi's attention was now directed to Sakura.

"They couldn't have moved everything out of that factory without us noticing…"

"Boss said it was time to move out, so out they moved, it happened in a night. The guys still drop round from time to time to check on their investment." Deidara nodded in perhaps the cockiest display Sakura had ever seen.

"I take it that you're the investment?"

"Believe it or not, some people can recognize talent when they meet it in the flesh. Consider yourselves lucky to play a minor role in my inevitable success."

With a cloud of doom they both realized what their minor role would be.

"There is _no way _in hell you're displaying any of the pictures you took today." Sakura spat the words out with as much venom as she could muster. That look of fear, or madness, crept back onto Deidara's face. "This camera is being submitted in an ongoing investigation, you won't see it again for months…"

"Years even…" Kakashi added for affect, it worked.

"No, no, no. You don't understand. I have to put this opening on _tonight_! These guys sunk a lot of money into the place and if I've got nothing to show for it then it's the end of me!"

"Serves you right for leaving it all to the last minute though, really…" Sakura couldn't help but dig the knife in just a little further, Deidara responded by banging his restrained fists on the table.

"You have no idea what I've sacrificed, what I've done to get this far. I would have had everything perfectly placed for the opening but those _assholes _took a revenue hit somewhere and wanted it pushed forward. I only found out about it yesterday. Art takes time, that's what I told them, but they don't care. All they care about is making money from their investment…"

"Who's they?" Kakashi asked quickly, trying to keep the momentum going and Sakura knew it.

"Listen, you let me use those pictures, and I'll answer all of your questions."

Kakashi and Sakura exchanged a look, she hoped it portrayed her thoughts of 'over my dead body', but Kakashi had apparently not picked up on it.

"We'll consider cutting you a deal, but I want you to answer something for us first…"

Sakura was practically screaming in her own mind, _what the hell are you doing, Hatake? _But everytime she went to open her mouth she seemed to stall in remembering his earlier words, _trust me._ Surely he didn't want the whole world to see their little over the top display, he was just as desperate as she was to keep that out of the report… wasn't he?

"Fine."

"Regarding one of the photographs you took…" Kakashi turned the camera on and Sakura fought not to roll her eyes at seeing the evidence of the kiss again, it wasn't getting any less embarrassing.

"That one's my favorite, you can really feel the tension, fine art is the beauty of that single fleeting moment of passion…."

"Cutting through the bullshit…" Kakashi mumbled, zooming into that spot which clearly showed the man who had been interested in their surveillance operation and thankfully fooled by the performance. "As we said earlier, we were trying to keep our cover from the ones we were monitoring…"

"Whatever excuse you need to tell yourself, buddy, I know explosions when I see them…"

"Do you know who this man is?" Sakura interrupted. "Is he one of the guys who comes to check in on his investment?"

Deidara rolled his eyes, but looked at the camera and made much less of a fuss than Sasuke had that morning when asked to do the same.

"Yeah, that's my man Sasori. He's one of the guys who got the place ready for me."

And just like that they had a name of someone who might work for the Akatsuki. The first tangible lead to the organization that had infiltrated and darkened the city of Konoha. There was excitement and adrenaline coursing through her whole system but Sakura needed to keep calm, whether they could trust this guy was a whole other matter, they needed to keep level heads about this. Containing any hint of excitement, Sakura decided to strike while the iron was hot.

"Before we cut any kind of deal we need to discuss it with our Captain first, so sit tight."

As she stood she chose to ignore the mumbled ramblings from Deidara, there was a writhing feeling in the pit of her stomach that they would now have to show Tsunade those pictures, but at least they had something to show for it. Kakashi followed her out the door, heading straight for Tsunade's office until Sakura pulled on his arm.

"Wait, don't you think we should come up with a plan before we go in there?"

"Oh, right, I guess. Usually I just opt to cover any of the major damage areas, groin, face, stomach... she can kick higher than you'd expect..."

"No, Kakashi. Not about the bodily harm, about the pictures. Does she have to actually see them?"

He appeared to be lost in thought for a moment, Sakura sometimes suspected that he was actually pretending to be thinking and he was just waiting for comedic timing.

"There's no need to be embarrassed, Haruno, we did what he had to do to keep our cover hidden, I'm sure she'll understand..."

While her partner was being cautiously optimistic, an odd shade on the usual grumpy facade, Sakura had already resigned herself to being made a laughing stock for the whole precinct. It wasn't so much what they had done while undercover, Detectives had pretended to be in heated moments for decades, it wasn't anything new... it was the fact that it had happened twice and no one was saying anything about it. Not Kakashi or herself, they hadn't spoken about it at all, and the evidence was visible on that camera.

They had spent too long in that position, there had been no need to continue the act, but Sakura had found herself unable or unwilling to stop... she couldn she didn't want to.

There were two kinds of silences that struck fear into the heart of Sakura Haruno, the first was the silence before a storm, when all creatures great and small were sheltered and not a soul dared to breathe. The second was what she was currently facing with Kakashi, the silence as Tsunade Senju put on her glasses and regarded the images on the camera screen. Sakura was too scared to swallow in case she attracted the attention of the beast, she didn't want to be the first target and she anxiously awaited for her to strike first.

Kakashi had calmly spoken all the details of the surveillance duty, skipping over any actual description of the kiss which she was thankful for. The fact that he didn't let Tsunade get a word in spoke volumes, he knew that the second she did speak that she would lose all that remained of her temper. Once the whole deal was placed on the table, with all the information currently gathered from Deidara, Kakashi had handed her the camera.

They both waited with bated breath. With her eyes still on the camera she finally spoke but it did nothing to defuse the tension.

"So the factory has already been cleaned out, we'll have to cancel the raid." When she said nothing further Kakashi deemed it safe to respond.

"Yes, Ma'am. It's still worth checking the factory for traces, I'll put a request in for forensics to do a sweep instead..."

"You'll do no such thing." She finally put the camera down on her desk and exhaled, the storm was now here. "Here's the plan, take this..." she gestured with an edge of disgust to the camera, "give it back to this Deidara, tell him he can use the photos..."

"But Ma'am..."

"No buts, Haruno. Just listen." The venom in Tsunade's voice caused Sakura to wince. "Run his name through the system anyway, I want to know where he came from, I want to know what he has for breakfast in the mornings. Then I want you to dress appropriately and attend this gallery opening tonight as the stars of the show. If the Akatsuki really are 'investing' in his work then they will be there, we could even get lucky and this Sasori might be there."

"You want us to go to an art exhibition?" Kakashi spoke and Sakura preemptively winced.

"What I want, is for my two lead detectives to conduct themselves in a professional manner so that it reflects well on _my _precinct. I want you to gather intel, as much as you can, and don't blow it this time. If my hunch is correct then the Akatsuki are using the selling of art as a front for laundering money. Whether this, Deidara is aware of it or not still remains to be seen. But for now we need him to cooperate and that means letting him believe that we're on his side and he's done nothing wrong. Got it?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Good. Now get out of my sight, the both of you, I don't want to see either of you until you're respectable enough to attend the gallery opening."

Sakura purposefully made sure not to even glance in Kakashi's direction throughout the whole exchange, and she wouldn't until they were safely back in the observation room. She let Kakashi give Deidara the good news. She had always been intrigued by these artsy types and she was no stranger to the finer things in life. But she'd never had any aptitude for the creative things, choosing instead to occupy a comfort zone of numbers and memorizing, and that could be beautiful in itself if one knew where to look. For tonight she would have to adopt a whole other personality if she hoped to fit in at all, and the challenge of that was something that excited her.

She refused to give in to the notion that the excitement had anything to do with being Kakashi's partner undercover again. At least if he kissed her this time she would be able to prepare for it better. _Can anyone really be prepared for a hurricane? Just because you know it's going to happen doesn't make it any less powerful..._

"Okay, we've got two hours before the opening starts, we need to get ready... probably get some food, I'll need to call Pakkun's sitter." Kakashi's voice shattered her thoughts and for once she was grateful for it. "It shouldn't take too long to get ready, we can run a background check on Deidara..."

"Speak for yourself." She quipped while crossing her arms. "You're a man, all you need to do is throw on a jacket and you're ready to go, I've got to find suitable attire, shoes, do something about the hair, makeup will take time too..."

"Okay, first of all, if you think this hair is achieved with no effort then you have been sorely misled. Second of all, I have a hard time believing that Sakura Haruno doesn't have an emergency art exhibition opening outfit ready to go just in case the situation may arise."

"For such a 'hot shot' detetive you really know nothing about women, do you? There is a process to this, and as a woman I've got to put three times the effort into it that you do to get the same result. Men have no idea…"

"Sakura." The way he said her name made her pause mid sentence, the way his lips curled into a small smile had her frozen to the spot. "You don't need any effort, you're exquisite as is."

The silence that followed his startling words had an effect on Sakura. Perhaps it was due to tiredness, or the comedown of adrenaline, or the intense embarrassment at having Tsunade see those photographs. She didn't know how to reply, she didn't even know where to look, her eyes eventually settled on the wry smile of his and she suddenly came to her senses.

"Don't think you can sweet talk me into processing Deidara. It's your turn, remember? I'm going home to get ready... Have fun!"

Before he even had a chance to refuse she was making her way to the bullpen for her purse and keys. Kakashi didn't follow her, so she guessed that she was off the hook for now. There was ample time to get ready, she wouldn't need the whole two hours for it, and there wasn't really a need to have hounded Kakashi about it. But if she was going to be ready for any possibility she wanted to be as prepared as she could be. Ever looming in her mind was the fact that they were up against the Akatsuki, they had their foot in the door, absolute caution was a must.

She arrived at her apartment and immediately threw open her closet. It was just unfortunate that a singular thought was replaying itself louder with each swipe of a coat hanger.

_Where are you going to hide your gun in that dress?_

The worst part about it, for some unknown reason the question started to morph into Kakashi's bored timbre, which just made her cast aside the hangers with more force than necessary. It caused a domino effect that cascaded some stored shoe boxes to the floor, the contents spilling everywhere. Lady Katsuyu hissed from her spot on the bed.

"It's alright m'lady..." Sakura cooed absent-mindedly, her attention suddenly pulled towards the mess strewn across her bedroom floor. "That'll work..." she mumbled with a half smile, picking up a pair of boots she'd only worn once and deemed too impractical for everyday wear. Like a jigsaw puzzle she was then able to put the rest of the pieces together, maybe it wasn't perfect or something that she would usually wear to a party, but this was business.

The time went by faster than she anticipated, it had taken less time for her to do hair and makeup and more time to fit her standard issue weapon in her right boot. She fitted her badge into the other easily, she hoped the plunging neckline would distract any doormen from frisking her too heavily. Tsunade had always said, when in doubt go for the little black dress. It covered her womanly assets just enough to leave an air of mystery, but was tight enough to guide one's imagination. Shoving her keys into the tiny purse she would be taking, Sakura glanced up to the mirror and froze again.

_Put on a jacket, or Kakashi will never let you live this down..._ The voice of reason sounded like Tsunade but there was another dark and mischievous tone shortly after that. _But where's the fun in covering up? _

With a smirk Sakura left her apartment sans the jacket and locked the door behind her. She was halfway down to the lobby when she realized that she hadn't fed Lady Katsuyu, but the cat wouldn't starve. She made a mental note here that she had also forgotten to tease Kakashi about the sitter, the whole way to the precinct she brainstormed for the best quip. About the time she settled on, 'Pakkun isn't the one who needs babysitting', her cab had stopped a block away from the precinct.

The boots wouldn't be ideal if she needed to chase any suspects on foot, but it was too late to change her mind about it. Her phone rang from the confines of her purse.

"Detective Haruno speaking."

"Where the hell are you? We've got to leave in five minutes if we want to make it in time and we still need to talk to Tsunade."

"Would you calm down, Hatake. I'm right outside the precinct."

"Where, I can't see you..."

Sakura stopped walking, she was literally within five feet of the double doors, her eyes darted around, she could hear him speak in the receiver but the deep voice was also echoed behind her. Sakura turned to find Kakashi standing beside the shitty sedan and looking almost comically around the parking area. Staring blankly at him for a moment she then sighed deeply.

"How many other people do you know with pink hair?"

She waited until he'd obviously spotted her before rolling her eyes and they both hung up. Kakashi had dressed appropriately, and even though he'd chosen a shirt without a collar, it suited the dress jacket he wore. He looked the part, he'd even made some attempt to wrangle his hair into submission.

"I swear I didn't recognize you..."

"Ha-ha, very funny. Let's just get this over with. Tsunade was a bit too silent about the whole thing earlier, so I'm expecting the worst."

Like most of Sakura's hunches this one proved to be unfortunately correct. The Captain only took one passing glance at the pair of them before she started her lecture, it lasted for two minutes straight with no break for air. The subject being how she expected them to act professionally even while undercover, how much was riding on the case and how hard she would make life for them should they screw this up. Sakura could tell by the redness on Tsunade's face that it was best not to say anything, thankfully Kakashi had also picked up on that detail this time and also kept quiet. The pair remained completely silent until they were dismissed and back in the sedan.

"Well, that could have been worse..." Kakashi mumbled as he started the engine.

"Yeah, let's just not give her any more reason to be pissed off."

Not one person at the precinct had commented on her appearance, and it was just as well, she would have sucker punched any commentators. Word had gotten out that she was the niece of Captain Tsunade Senju a couple weeks earlier, but she liked to think that it was also her no-nonsense reputation that had helped the situation.

"Listen, about... earlier..." Kakashi started to speak and Sakura was instantly filled with a strange kind of anxious energy. They had yet to talk about the kiss, and now it seemed like Kakashi was taking this opportunity.

"No need." She tried to defuse it before it began, not sure if she was equipped enough to be dealing with the whirlwind of emotions just yet, or in such close proximity to Kakashi. "You were just doing what was best for the case and keeping us both safe..."

"Yeah..." Kakashi still seemed to be fidgeting uncomfortably. "Yeah, things don't have to be awkward between us because of it, we're both professionals..."

"Exactly. things like that happen all the time, right?"

"I'm sure it happens, this is a first for me though... that's probably why it felt so weird..."

"It felt weird to you?"

"Well...no, but also yes, it wasn't normal..." Kakashi fidgeted a little more and Sakura found herself enjoying his awkwardness, it was bemusing to see him lose composure. "Maybe we shouldn't talk about it."

Sakura nodded, he didn't respond, she aimed her snide smile to the window. There was never a dull day on this job. She needed to keep her head straight just as she'd done as a surgeon, so she couldn't let this rush of weird emotions get the better of her, she needed to be calm and clear for tonight. That was what Tsunade had been trying to get across to them both, and while it didn't dispel the awkwardness it certainly forced her to focus.

The sedan was parked in the same alleyway they had used earlier, Kakashi busied himself with a recording bug that would go in his pocket, Sakura adjusted the one in her purse. They were both wearing ear pieces by the time they got out of the car, it tucked nicely behind her hair and out of sight.

"You ready?" Kakashi's eyes were on her, his arm held out for her to take before they crossed the street.

"Let's do this."

Sakura wasn't exactly familiar enough with this kind of scene to definitively say whether or not it was a typical art gallery. Deidara had kept his promise to put their names on the guest list, they were ushered in without much fuss, but Sakura still didn't trust him.

The plan was simple, split up and cover more ground, signal the other upon first sight of Sasori or anyone else of interest. So as not to arouse suspicion, the two of them collected a glass of champagne each when it was offered and decided to hold onto each other for a while yet. They wondered the floor and pretended to peruse the collection of oddities on display, while really studying the people in the room. There was only one art piece that really caught their attention enough to make them both stop moving, Sakura raised an eyebrow at the large blown up picture starring herself and Kakashi.

"Well if it isn't the stars of the show..." Deidara appeared next to them. "Admiring my handywork, Detectives?"

"Not so loud Deidara, we're meant to be undercover, remember?" She spat while throwing her best death stare.

"Of course, my mistake. Well, I hope you like the show, lovebirds. Try not to make a scene and upstage me now..." The blond smirked and disappeared to greet others.

"What a piece of work." Sakura muttered under her breath.

"Do you think we'll get a cut of this if it sells?" Kakashi hadn't taken his eyes from the monstrosity in front of them.

"Surely we're going to confiscate it into evidence once all this is over."

"Sakura, he's selling it for 5k. You're telling me you don't want a cut of that?"

"I would rather watch it burn..."

"It wasn't... that bad, was it?"

"The kiss... no, not that. But can you imagine what Gai will do if he sees this, massive... eye sore of a thing?"

She heard Kakashi wince though he didn't give a verbal answer. When he made a show of checking the time piece on his wrist they gave each other subtle nods, it was time to split up and do some recon. Finding Sasori would prove to be difficult, from the picture all they had been able to note was the hair color, a dark red that was poking out from under a baseball cap. He'd worn glasses too and there hadn't been any distinct features of note.

But they had an ace in the hole. Sasori had a tattoo on his chest, it spread just over his sternum and had been partially visible in the picture. It was something they would have to look closely for, but it was better than nothing.

"In position." Kakashi's voice cracked through the receiver. He had stationed himself at the entrance, while Sakura was keeping to the back of the factory floor where the fire exit was.

"Also in position."

It was tedious work but it needed to be done, any one of these people could be directly involved with the Akatsuki. It was certainly a clever way to launder money for the organization.

"Mid life crisis coming your way."

Kakashi's voice almost made her startle, it had been minutes since their last communication and she was slowly being filled with nervous energy to get started and find these bastards. But the humor in his voice, and the approaching mid life crisis in person almost made her laugh out loud.

"Don't be rude, Kakashi."

"It's not rude if it's the truth. And someone needs to tell him the truth about that toupee."

Sakura smiled, pretending to be interested in yet another picture of garbage blown up to intimidating proportions. Her blood pressure and energy settled back to an acceptable level and she once again reminded herself to thank her partner for that. He always seemed to know when she needed the tension to be defused without actually being told.

"Cougar incoming..."

Later on Sakura would admit that they had been anything but professional but in that kind of high pressure situation she'd needed to be grounded. She suspected that it was how Kakashi got through those tougher assignments, a morbid kind of humor to help pass the time and process the pressure. Casually sipping her drink, Sakura had been about to comment that it was a pity for Kakashi that the cougar hadn't been interested in him... when a certain exchange caught her eye.

It could be nothing, or it could be everything.

Deidara was talking to someone in the far corner, it had been a blind spot on her side of the room that she'd missed entirely. And she had only missed it because the gaudy picture of her kissing Kakashi was in front of it. The closer she got the more excited she was. This was a conversation that the artist had not want overheard, it was a conversation that he had hidden from her and Kakashi. Suddenly Deidara was on the move, leaving the person in the corner by themselves, and that was the first time she got a good look at him.

She tried to move closer towards him without being overly suspicious, the last thing she wanted to do was stand out now, but she also couldn't lose him.

This was Sasori, it had to be him.

The signal was two coughs when they caught sight of him or someone suspicious, she'd wanted to be sure before she called Kakashi over. She almost jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand on her shoulder, it took all her restraint not to break the arm it was attached to. She turned sporting an expression laced with venom.

"Kakashi, what the fuck are you..."

"Why didn't you give the signal..."

"I was about to when you showed up, why are you abandoning your post?"

"Something is going down, I just saw Kakazu Taki enter, this isn't safe. We need to call for backup."

"Wait, who is Kakazu-"

"Shh. That's him..."

Sakura tried not to look conspicuous, so she made a show of taking a drink and then stepping closer to Kakashi, pretending to get cozy with him. She turned her head and caught sight of Sasori talking with a taller man now in the corner with him. There arms were folded. They looked to be studying every individual in the building as they spoke.

"He's talking to Sasori-"

"Yeah..." Kakashi was playing along with her little gambit, bringing an arm around her waist and pulling her against him. "We need to get closer. Do you have a plan?"

She did, but it wasn't one that she liked. Ditching her glass on a nearby table, Sakura returned both her arms to Kakashi, turning him slightly so that his back was to the wall and they were both side on from their suspects.

"Follow my lead..." She whispered in his ear, pulling him closer to her.

Sakura desperately didn't want to kiss him again while they were undercover, Tsunade would chew her out for a month, but they needed to get to that exit with a good enough excuse to be there. She pretended to be kissing his neck, instead just nuzzling herself against the soft skin there, he smelt pretty damn good and she tried to ignore that fact.

It took everything she had not to giggle at how shaky his hands were to start with. But then it became not so amusing. The way his hands roamed up her sides, into the dips and curves her dress did little to hide, the way his breath tickled that spot just behind her ear. If she wasn't trying to concentrate so hard on the suspects she might have enjoyed herself, the hard feel of his abdomen through the shirt, she didn't even know when her hands had snaked there way through his jacket.

"As fun as this is... Sakura..." she ignored the way he said her name in that deep whisper and the goosebumps it caused, "how is this getting us any closer to the door?"

"Shut up, just follow my lead..."

Putting on what she hoped was a dazed but lustful grin, Sakura pulled back from Kakashi, but held a firm grip to his hands. She even put on a giggle for show as she pulled him towards the corner. Anyone watching would assume they were leaving to be somewhere more private, but that was only part of it. Kakashi's eyes stayed on her and for a blissful moment she thought the cover was safe, that they were a step closer to bringing in someone tied to the Akatsuki. But then Kakashi's eyes danced past her and to the door, they went wide which prompted her to turn.

Deidara was also there, he must have slid between Sasori and Kakazu while she had been feeling up Kakashi. Sasori was already opening the door, and that was when Deidara offered them a wink and a grin that she would never forget before he disappeared with the others out the door.

The lights in the gallery all went off throwing them into pitch blackness but she had a hold of Kakashi and they were barreling in the direction of the door. It couldn't have been ten seconds, but it was enough, they were already in a car and screeching towards the streets of Konoha.

It was an unmarked and unlicensed vehicle. They had known that the Konoha PD would be here. Deidara had been in on it the whole time.

"Fuck." Sakura swore and kicked the dirt of the alleyway with her boot, Kakashi was already on the phone. The back up he'd ordered had arrived too late.

Tsunade was briefed over the phone, and while she wasn't impressed that they had gotten away, they could now tie three names to the Akatsuki... and the company that owned this factory. If it still existed. Sakura protested from the passenger's seat that they couldn't trust a word Deidara had said, Sasori might not even be a real alias.

"Listen." Tsunade spoke no nonsense while still on speaker phone in the sedan. "This was risky to begin with we weren't expecting anything much from it. The Akatsuki are smart. The fact that we've got this close to them has them rattled and now they are cutting ties. I wouldn't be surprised if we found Deidara's body next."

"But Captain..."

"No buts! Go home and get some rest. You've both been working for over 24 hours and I need you rested and thinking clearly for the next part."

"Are we going after Kisame?" Kakashi asked, though it sounded more rhetorical confirmation.

"I think now we have to, yes. APB's have been put out for anyone matching Deidara, Kakazu or Sasori's description. Now go home detectives. Let forensics sweep the factory and I'll have your reports tomorrow."

She was being eerily nice about the whole thing and to Sakura that was another red flag. Even if the captain hadn't expected anything much to come from this operation it was still one of the only solid leads they'd had, and now it felt as if they were left with nothing. Sakura felt herself standing over a pit of despair.

Kakashi dropped her home, she'd expected him to take off once they got to the building, but instead he surprised her. Parking up the sedan and getting out himself. They hadn't spoken a word the whole way over and Sakura wasn't sure if she really wanted to talk about it. She didn't even take the stairs, she glumly put herself in the elevator, perturbed to find Kakashi still following her.

Halfway up he stopped the elevator.

"What are you-"

"Sakura. I can't watch you do this. Don't be me."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't... wallow in it. We've had a little set back, but that's what happens as detectives sometimes, and you... well you're too good to be kept down by one hurdle in the road."

"I've let the whole task force down, Kakashi, if I'd signaled you as soon as I saw Sasori maybe we could have moved on them faster. If I hadn't..."

"If." Kakashi stepped in front of her, a hand to her chin forcing her head up. "I know better than anyone, the what-if's and should-have's will eat your brain. You're too good for that and I won't let it happen to you, got it?" Kakashi had dropped his hand, not keeping the physical contact for long, when she didn't answer straight away he made a grab for her hand. "It's better to say, oops than what if, Sakura. Trust me."

Those two words were apparently all she needed to hear for the despair to dissipate. She did trust him. They had found these leads together and they would find more. At least they had somewhere to look.

"You're right. And I do...trust you."

"Good." He stepped back and hit the button on the elevator again. "You need to get some rest, you've been running on empty, then we'll do what we do best."

"Get into trouble with Tsunade?"

He smiled.

"Yeah, exactly. But also, we're pretty good detectives, so we won't be down for long, Haruno." The doors opened and she stepped out, Kakashi didn't follow her this time, he hit the button for the ground floor but spoke before the doors shut and left her no room for reply. "Just kiss me next time and we might have better luck."

He even had the audacity to wink as the doors closed. Shaking her head to herself, Sakura walked the hall to her apartment, but without the heavy heart she'd had on entering the building. Things were going to be okay, she might have to work a little harder to do it, but she'd never been averse to working hard. She'd done it before she could do it again.

"I'm home..." Sakura mumbled, knowing that Lady Katsuyu would be eagerly awaiting the dinner she'd been made to wait for.

But the cat was nowhere to be seen or heard. Sakura dropped her keys into the bowl and went to the kitchen, going to the cupboard to take out a can of fancy feast, but she looked down to find the bowl was already full.

Dread began a steady climb up her body before she forced herself to move. Crouching she retrieved the gun in her boot, thankfully it was much easier to pull out that it had been to store in there. The lights came on in the living room behind her and she turned, gun trained to the dark figure that was seated on the cat's chair, with Lady Katsuyu in his lap.

"Doctor.. or should I say now, Detective Haruno."

There was no mistaking that chilling voice, devoid of all emotion.

"Itachi Uchiha. What the hell are you doing in my apartment?"

"You can drop your weapon, Detective. I'm not here to hurt you." The cat dropped from his lap and found a less crowded place to sit. "We can have a civilized conversation without the need for firearms, or has your short time as a police officer turned you savage already?"

There was no way that she would drop the weapon. No way in hell.

"I'm not dropping the weapon, Uchiha. There's no way I can trust a word out of your mouth. Now tell me what you're doing here before I arrest you for breaking and entering."

"I'm here for one reason, and one reason only." He stood, Sakura backed up and kept her eyes on him, her grip tight on the pistol. "Stay away from Sasuke."

"You came all the way here, broke into my apartment, to tell me that? I don't want to be anywhere near him and you should know it..."

"Forgive me, was it not you, a biased detective, who identified my brother and had him brought into your sloppy precinct for questioning? Your partner made a nice little show of him, didn't he. I bet your superiors were pleased."

There was silence, Sakura dared not to blink in case he made a move towards her.

"Why do I need to stay away from Sasuke?"

"Not just you. Your partner too, the whole department needs to leave him alone."

"Why, Itachi?!" Her voice broke and the panic set through despite her years of training.

"Because he's not the one you're looking for."

"And how do you know that?" Her blood ran cold at the smirk on his face.

"I know everything. You'll just have to trust me."

"Why should I do that?" She was being loud and emotional and she no longer cared about the consequences or what she looked like. "I know it was you, I know what you and Sasuke did to your parents. I'm not in the habit of trusting murderers!"

"And yet..." he spoke deliberately slow, "you trusted the words of Mizuki Tsubaki, a worthless scrap of a human being, and look where it got you. Leading a task force on your first week in the job."

"Spit it out then!" Her hands were at least more steady than her voice.

"Promise me, first." Itachi sounded threatening even with his dulcet monotone. "Promise me that you and your partner will stay away from Sasuke."

She didn't want to be making promises about her case, especially not to this man, he had used her words against her before and he would do it again. She didn't want to make any decisions without Kakashi. But she needed that information, she needed him out of her apartment and behind bars.

"Fine." She spat. "As long as he keeps his nose clean, I don't want to be anywhere near him anyway."

Itachi smirked again, he seemed magnanimous where he stood, his eyes as dark as the night sky outside.

"Thank you, Detective. And for your promise to keep my little brother out of this and away from your mouldy precinct, I will point you in the right direction as an act of good faith. But nothing more, understood." It was rhetorical but she nodded anyway. "You have my permission to ask one question pertaining to your task force, and you have my word that I will answer honestly."

A thousand questions came to mind all at once, the most pressing being the identity of the Kyuubi Killer, but could she really trust his answer? How would she prove that to a judge and jury... there was no way he would admit to giving her any information even under oath. What she needed was a lead. She needed a lead to find Obito's killer, she needed to do it for Kakashi...

"Do you know who killed Obito Uchiha?"

Itachi's lips moved into some semblance of a smile, though it was not sincere, it was sinister.

"Not particularly. You have a habit it seems at looking to the wrong Uchiha's. But for confirmation of your word, I will give you the right Uchiha to be looking into."

"Fine." She hated herself already for agreeing. "You have my word."

"Shisui. Shisui Uchiha is the one you should be looking at." Itachi started moving, Sakura kept her gun trained to his chest the whole time and it seemed like an eternity before he reached the door. "Have a nice evening, Detective."

The second it was shut she pounced on the locks, keeping one shaky hand on her pistol, but if he got in once he could get in again. Her fingers trembled as she pulled out her phone and dialed the last number on the call list. He must have still been driving because it rang to voicemail.

"Kakashi, we have another problem..."


	21. Chapter 21

Kakashi had ditched the jacket as soon as he'd gotten into the sedan. It wasn't especially warm inside the car but for some reason he felt as if he were suffocating, his blood had been running hot all evening and it didn't appear to be cooling down anytime soon. The burning had begun the second Sakura had run her hands all over his body and he could no longer deny the cause.

It was highly inappropriate and unprofessional, it was everything Tsunade had warned them against. He had half a mind to call Sakura and apologize for being so brazen with her in the elevator, but they had just spent almost 24 hours straight with each other, she wouldn't want to hear from him. Or would she? The second guessing was infuriating to Kakashi, he who had always been sure in his own convictions, but when it came to the opposite sex he was suddenly rendered indecisive.

She wasn't just any woman though, she was his partner, and an exceptional one at that. The lines had just been blurred by all the undercover work, the touching, the kissing... spending time at her apartment and in close quarters. That's all it was, it had to be, the alternative was more than Kakashi could bare to think of at the moment.

It was one of those car journeys where he arrived at his destination without an active memory of precisely how he got there. Like a dangerous kind of autopilot, it was just lucky that the streets were dark and relatively empty by the time he pulled up to his building.

His mind seemed to be enjoying the torment of replaying the various awkward conversations he'd had with Sakura today. It had started after the kiss, he'd called her _exquisite_ and never felt more like an imbecile, then that little talk in the elevator. What had he been thinking? Before he could bring himself to get out of the vehicle Kakashi thumped his head against the steering wheel for good measure.

It would work itself out, he was sure. And if it didn't then Sakura would definitely make sure of it.

Slinging his jacket over his shoulder, Kakashi locked the shitty sedan and walked around the side of the building to the entrance. He was debating what would be more prudent, a cup of ramen and a ten hour sleep, or a bottle of wine and ordering in a pizza. The thoughts were so consuming he failed to notice the limousine that pulled up next to him on the sidewalk until the window was already being rolled down.

"Kakashi Hatake?"

It was hard to tell who was asking, the dim light inside the vehicle did little to illuminate the person, it helped that they were clad in dark sunglasses.

"Yeah, that might be me. Depends on who's asking..."

"Who said I was asking?" The window came down further and revealed the barrel of a gun, pointed straight at Kakashi's chest. "Get in."

One of Kakashi's special skills as a detective was that his mind worked well under pressure, his body knew how to react, and it had saved his life before. So even when he saw the gun he knew exactly what to do, putting his arms up in mock surrender.

"Guess I have no choice. Where will we be going?"

"You ask too many questions and see what happens, now get in."

The door opened and the man with the gun moved back to accommodate him, never straying in his aim at Kakashi's heart. The limousine was all black leather, easy to hide stains, Kakashi was already working out odd places where he could leave his fingerprints. The man with the gun was wearing a leather jacket with his hair slicked back, glasses covering his eyes, gloves, it didn't bode well. While he was busy trying to take in every single detail of the man as he could, the sound of a gun being loaded at the other side of the limo caught his attention.

"Detective, thank you for coming so quietly on our little ride..." His voice was thick with an accent that Kakashi immediately recognized as Kiri. The man speaking needed no introduction but he seemed to deem it necessary. "My name is Kisame Hoshigaki, I believe you were investigating me."

The word _'were' _stood out like a sore thumb. He was trying to get under his skin and Kakashi wasn't going to give in to it.

"Nothing gets passed you, I see."

"Huh. Flattery will get you everywhere Detective Hatake, and you're right obviously, I have little birds all over the place, singing me little songs.." The smirk on his square face shifted into something darker, something sinister. "Which is why I know just how hard you and your little partner have been trying to shut me down. You're a thorn in my side, Hatake, and you know what I do to thorns?"

"Intimidate them into limousines?" Kakashi's phone was vibrating in his pocket, the leather jacket reached over and pulled it from his pocket, the screen lit up with Sakura's name. "And violate their privacy... You know I don't really swing that way, right guys?"

"Very funny, guy." He tossed the phone to Kisame, who caught it easily, all the while their guns were still aimed true. "What do you wanna do here, boss? That skank will keep calling I bet..."

"Right you are Hidan, we better hide him quickly then. Somewhere even that nosy bitch won't find, and I know just the place..."


	22. Chapter 22

Sakura had never seen a tiger pacing in a cage, but she'd heard the term before and she imagined that's what she looked like at this moment. The bullpen was her cage. She'd circled hers and Kakashi's desks all morning waiting for him to arrive with impatience, she'd called him twenty times at least but the phone just kept ringing, whatever he was doing he wasn't picking up.

The logical part of her brain was aware that whatever he was up to must be important or that at least there was a reasonable explanation for his not answering. His phone could be broken, he could have slept too late... he could have crashed the shitty sedan. And this was where logic abandoned Sakura despite herself, it was a vicious spiral that continued. He hadn't picked up last night, he could have been mugged or worse... he could be second guessing their partnership. Maybe her feeling him up in that gallery had been too much, what if he was avoiding her because of it.

"Sakura! Snap out of it." Tsunade's booming voice called from the door to her office. "Get in here, now."

She was so anxious and worked up she didn't even care that Tsunade had practically spat the words in her direction. The usual fear of bodily harm that would accompany the action was suddenly not as overwhelming as the fear of uncertainty. That being said she still immediately complied as if her life depended on it.

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Shut the door behind you." Tsunade stomped back to her chair but didn't sit, instead she chose to stand behind the desk and lean against it. "You need to calm down, Haruno, the whole bullpen thinks you're losing it."

"Forgive me, Captain, but something doesn't feel right. It's not like Hatake to leave me in the lurch, he always answers calls, he's three hours late already..."

"Hatake has a history of being perpetually late _and _ignoring calls..."

"Not from me." Sakura momentarily forgot her place and judging by the throbbing vein on Tsunade's temple she was dangerously close to crossing the line. "With all due respect, Ma'am, I've worked closely with Detective Hatake every day for the past month. He just wouldn't do this."

"Understandable, but you have no proof of any kind that something untoward has happened to him, he's probably back at the cemetery again..."

"He isn't." She interrupted, but instead of Tsunade chewing her out for it her eyes glinted in a hint of worry. "I already checked. I think something must have happened..."

"You want to know what I think, Detective Haruno? I think it doesn't matter what you want because I'm going to tell you anyway as your commanding officer. I think you're spiraling, your home was invaded last night, your life endangered and now you're panicking at every turn. Calm. Down." Tsunade kept eye contact, she wasn't vicious in her words or tone, she was concerned more with Sakura than she was with Kakashi. But her next question betrayed her true feelings. "Have you checked Hatake's apartment? When the elevator broke a couple years ago he was trapped in there for a day... Obito was the one who went looking for him in the end..."

"I didn't want to impose on his privacy." Sakura couldn't help but feel maybe they had gotten too close to each other last night... maybe he really was withdrawing, maybe he just didn't want to see her. _He wouldn't not say anything, he would answer her calls at least. _"Permission to go check, Ma'am."

"You would go whether I gave you permission or not. Just go, do you want to take a security detail in case Itachi shows up again?"

Sakura shifted her jacket to reveal the gun at her hip.

"I don't think that's necessary, Captain. I can take care of myself if he shows up." Sakura was grateful that Tsunade was taking Itachi's presence so seriously and not having her committed to the nearest asylum. "I'm more anxious about what kind of trouble he's gotten himself into this time."

"That's my girl. I'm sure it'll be fine, he's probably got himself handcuffed to the bed again..."

"Pardon?"

"Nothing, keep your cell on you at all times, got it?" With a nod she made for the door but Tsunade kept going for the whole bullpen to hear. "We've got work to do Haruno, we've got positive traces of bijuu in that so-called art gallery, so get your ass back here fast or I'll kick it all the way to Suna."

"Yes, Ma'am."

Sakura snatched her jacket and keys on the way passed her desk, not bothering to stop for even a second. For a moment she felt guilty, seeing her peers drowning in the work of the task force, and there was so much to be done after yesterday's sting. She'd tried her best to throw herself into her work first thing this morning after briefing Tsunade on her visitor, but worry had consumed her and the work was no longer was able to hold her attention.

She jumped into the first cab she saw. It was only a five minute journey with traffic to Kakashi's apartment building and she spent the entirety of it going over and over what she would say to him when she got there. The list went something like this; Where the fuck have you been? What the fuck have you been doing? Get your ass to the precinct now before it gets kicked there. And then finally, are you alright, what's going on?

It was hard to describe the sinking feeling she felt at seeing the shitty sedan parked at the side of the building. With tunnel vision she studied it until the taxi had stopped moving and let her out. Something felt very wrong. Kakashi wouldn't have gone anywhere without that car, he was weirdly attached to the vehicle that had once been Obito's pride and joy. She approached it with caution, it was locked which wasn't unusual, she couldn't see his keys or phone locked in the car so that theory was off the table.

The only saving grace was that he couldn't be too far from here. He might've taken a cab or bus but she knew that the lazy and parsimonious Kakashi Hatake would never succumb to taking public transport if he could help it.

Maybe she really was just overreacting, maybe he'd simply overslept after working all that overtime without break. There was nothing to suggest anything otherwise... Before she could mentally berate herself any further a glint from the gutter caught her eye, she was almost outside the front door when she first spotted it. First it had been the catch of the light's reflection on something shining and metal, and then it was the flap of fabric laying beside it.

Something familiar.

She was only able to recognize it because of the color, because 12 hours earlier she'd had her hands all over the damned thing, slipping it aside to feel up the man underneath. It was Kakashi's jacket, laying in the gutter by the sidewalk, no doubt about it. As if to solidify the dread in the pit of her stomach she then recognized that shine from the gutter as well. It was Kakashi's keys. The realization sent bile scalding up her throat.

There were a dozen questions that came to mind in an instant about what she should be doing next. Should she touch the keys? Would there be fingerprints on them? DNA? She couldn't just leave them in the gutter, it was a miracle that the sky hadn't opened up and washed them down the drain. Had Kakashi left these here on purpose? He certainly wouldn't have willingly left them here on the street for just anyone to find. Sakura pulled a pen from her pocket and used it to pick up the keys by the rung of the chain.

She knew they were his because of the scarecrow figurine, she'd teased him about it a few times and each time he'd maintained that it held sentimental value, she'd called him a fool.

Panic began to rear its ugly head but she needed to keep her wits about her if she hoped to get to the bottom of this. She needed to be calm.

_What would Kakashi do?_

If the shoe were on the other foot and it was Kakashi looking for his partner he would stop at nothing. He would barge into that apartment and demand answers. Sakura was sure, so that's what she decided to do. The presence of his keys meant that it was almost certain that he wasn't inside, unless the idiot had somehow managed to throw them out a window in his apartment and around the corner. It was all adding up as she entered that building, the appearance of Itachi, the disappearance of Deidara and now Kakashi. There was a dangerous organization that they had pissed off, a serial killer who had resurfaced and tried to blow them up, potentially a leak within the Konoha PD itself... The game had become more treacherous than she could ever have imagined.

Sakura found herself taking in more detail than she normally would, scoping out for any security cameras in the lobby or hallways of the building, keeping an eye out for anything that might be a clue as to what happened to Kakashi. If he'd never made in inside the building then she had the approximate time he had gone missing, right after he'd dropped her off at home and before he'd reached his own door.

The sound of scratching reached her ears long before she reached the threshold to his apartment. Her right hand lingered over the gun at her hip for an alarming second before she realized belatedly what the sound was.

"Pakkun!"

Upon hearing his name the pug made a desperate attempt to dig himself through the wooden door. Sakura fumbled with the handle before realizing that, not only was it locked, if there were any prints on the knob she would have just destroyed them.

_These guys are too smart to leave prints. Just unlock the door and get Pakkun._

At times her inner voice of reason sounded like herself, other times it was more like Tsunade, today it was all Kakashi. He wouldn't just stand here waiting for things to magically work themselves out. She found the key on the third try, Pakkun's scrambling interrupted by soft barking noises when she put the key to the lock. The pug immediately burst out the door, Sakura crouched to ruffle his ears but Pakkun had a different idea, all but climbing into her arms.

"It's alright buddy, it's alright."

The dog was trembling, Sakura didn't have enough knowledge of dogs to know if this was out of happiness or fear, she comforted the best she could. Silently patting his head and rubbing his paws in the way that Kakashi had shown her before. At the back of her mind was a screaming anxious thought, that time was of the essence here, there wasn't a moment to lose. But Kakashi would never forgive her if something happened to Pakkun either. So only when he had stopped shaking did she place him gently to the ground and stand.

Initially there was nothing in Kakashi's apartment that made her suspicious in any way, it looked as it always did. However, there was no Kakashi in it. With one hand on her weapon she searched every room, hoping, praying that maybe it was just as Tsunade had said. He could be handcuffed to a bed somewhere, he seemed like the type to enjoy that kind of thing. All the while Pakkun never left her side, he followed her room to room, when she had circled back to the kitchen she noted that his food bowl was full.

"Not hungry, Pakkun. You worried too?"

She asked not expecting any kind of reply, it wasn't as if the dog could speak, but he did bork and sniff at the fridge door. That was when Sakura noticed the scrap piece of paper stuck with a magnet, a hastily scribbled note.

"Sorry I couldn't wait around any longer, just pay me extra next time. Kiba." Sakura spoke out loud for her own benefit rather than Pakkun's. It was eerie being in Kakashi's apartment and not hearing his voice, his laugh. "That must be the dog sitter."

There was nothing here, not a scrap of evidence as to where Kakashi had disappeared to, not an inkling into his well being. Sakura contemplated phoning it into Tsunade, but what would she care? There was no proof of anything and she'd get the same speech as this morning with an added ass kicking.

_Think, Sakura. Trust those instincts of yours._

She needed to think like a detective. She closed her eyes and searched her mind for something, anything, there had to be a lead here somewhere. There just had to be, because the alternative was too terrifying to admit.

_Think. What do you have?_

Keys and a jacket, the answer came quickly, but so did another question.

_What are you missing?_

Wallet and phone. He would never have left them unattended, especially the wallet. Without another thought Sakura decided to follow her hunch while Pakkun decided to follow her too. Before she exited the apartment she grabbed the leash that was hanging by the door and hooked it to Pakkun's collar. She couldn't bring herself to leave him alone without his master. By the time she'd gotten back to the side walk the fervent need to find a lead had festered into palpitating anxiety.

His jacket remained exactly where she had left it, but with no phone or wallet in the pockets. As if knowing what would happen next before she did, Pakkun began to plod his way over to the shitty sedan, Sakura complied. Maybe she could trace his cell location back at the precinct, or maybe by some miracle he would be there waiting for her, though she doubted it highly. Hope was a luxury for a Konoha Detective, and she knew that, but it was a hard habit to break.

Kakashi had once said that he envied her for that quality, that it was something he had once possessed but had long been snuffed out, she'd replied that she would be hopeful enough for the both of them going forward and he'd smiled. Right now it felt cruel to hope, cruel because she knew the likelihood of his being there and safe was zero. For once she sincerely wished she knew how to temper that hope, control it to the right levels, to the right degree and for the right purpose.

Pakkun sat patiently in the passenger's seat while the sedan drove at what felt like a glacial pace back to the precinct. Her mind was already laying all the puzzle pieces out on the metaphorical table, try to trace the phone, see if there's any CCTV footage from any of the stores on Kakashi's block, see if there are contact details for the dog sitter. She couldn't help but feel she was coming back to Tsunade empty handed, and she hated that, but it wouldn't be for long. She was going to find something, she had to.

There were looks as she entered, out of curiosity rather than concern, but Sakura didn't care and Pakkun walked in like he owned the place which helped. By the time she reached the bullpen, Sakura had taken a leaf out of Pakkun's book and wasn't fazed by the looks. Not until Gai came bounding up to her.

"Pakkun!" The pug acknowledged Gai in a way that his master might have been proud of, with calculated indifference and a sharp turn up of his nose. Gai's eyes were large while Sakura dumped her jacket on her desk chair. "What the hell are you doing here with Pakkun? Where's Kakashi?"

"I don't fucking know Gai, I've been asking all morning and no one has been listening and not that it's any of your goddamn business but I didn't want to leave Pakkun alone in that apartment..."

"Kakashi wasn't at his apartment?"

"No, he wasn't, but a magical sea witch was there and she predicted that your future has an ass kicking in it-"

"Haruno!" Tsunade was standing about six feet away at the threshold to her office, her eyes wide and watching Pakkun, her arms crossed. "My office, now!"

Later Sakura would swear that Pakkun had legitimately rolled his eyes at the sound of the Captain's voice, but for the moment she was too wound up to pick up on any of the minor details. All she wanted was to sit at her desk and run these checks so that she could find her partner.

"Ma'am, with all due respect, I've got a lot of work to do-" Sakura spoke as soon as she got to the door, finding the pug never left her side, but Tsunade interrupted.

"I heard you say Pakkun was alone in the apartment, is this true?" She seemed agitated, nervous, pacing as she spoke.

"Yes, Ma'am. This note was on the fridge door." She pulled the paper from her pocket and Tsunade eagerly grabbed it.

"Why didn't you call?"

"I didn't think this was substantial enough to warrant bothering you, Ma'am." Sakura truly didn't see what the big deal was, but she couldn't say that to her Captain, was there something about this whole thing that she had missed?

"Hatake never, _never, _leaves that dog without a sitter. He spends more money on home based care for Pakkun than most first time mothers."

"Seriously? But I've never seen anyone else with Pakkun at his place-"

"All Kakashi's sitters have keys," as she spoke Tsunade was pacing closer to the door before shouting again, "Gai! Genma! Get in here, now!" Her attention went back to Sakura. "His arrangement is that he texts the sitter when he leaves work so that he doesn't have to pay them any extra for their time. He spends a lot on that dog, but he's still a thrifty bastard who will cut corners where he can. Good, you're here. We have a situation, Hatake is missing."

"Seriously?" Genma's bored tone was met with a sharp elbow to the rib cage by Gai.

"Serious as my last heart attack. There's no way he would leave that dog unattended overnight. Haruno, what else did you find at his apartment?"

"Nothing much..." Sakura reached into her pocket for the keys. "These were in the gutter, his jacket too, I left it in the sedan but there's nothing on it."

Sakura tried her best to quell the rage that was building within her, anger at her fellow officers, her peers. If they had listened to her before, maybe they would be a few steps closer to finding Kakashi. They had doubted her, they continued to doubt her, and the rage was threatening to spill out.

"What do you think we should do next?"

Tsunade's eyes were on her, Gai and Genma as well, waiting for her to make the call.

"I didn't find his phone, it could still be with him and we may be able to track it if it's been used. There's also potential for CCTV footage of some of the stores across the street from his apartment, maybe they saw something. The sedan was parked up at his building and locked, I drove it back here but there was nothing in it to suggest foul play. His wallet must also be with him so we could subpoena for his bank records to see if the accounts have been used within the last twelve hours, which would take too much time for a judge to put through, unless we guessed his passwords but I doubt he even knows how to access internet banking..." She was aware that she was rambling and she just didn't care, listing what they could potentially do to find him was having a cathartic effect, it allowed that anxious energy to dissipate just a fraction so that her mind was clear to focus on what needed to be done.

Tsuande barely needed a second to process the information.

"Genma, I want you to put out an APB for Hatake, then you're to cover any stores on the street that might have security footage to help us. Gai, get on those phone records now, it's a departmentally issued phone so we don't have to go through the usual channels. Leave the bank accounts and contacting the sitter to me, I'll call the commissioner and cash in a few chips, hopefully find a judge that will rush it through." She paused and took a breath. "What are you all just standing there for? Move, move, move!"

Gai and Genma were already out the door, leaving Sakura standing there perplexed and bothered, Pakkun's eyes were narrowed as if he knew what was going on.

"Right, what are my orders, Ma'am?"

"Go home." Tsunade said as she finally sat down, picking up her phone as if to signal that this was the end of the conversation, but Sakura's temper would not be dismissed so easily.

"You're benching _me? _I'm his partner, I have the best chance of anyone at finding him, I know him better than any of you..."

"And I've known him the longest." Tsunade got louder with each word. "And he said the exact same thing when Obito went missing. This is a direct order, Haruno, go home. You're too close to this one and I will not have a repeat of what happened last year."

"He's not dead." Emotion got the better of Sakura and it leaked through her voice. "I can find him in time, I will find him."

"Sakura, listen to me, and listen well. You are too close to this, go home and cool off."

"There's no way I can..."

"Finding Hatake will be top priority, I'll make sure of it, we've got the man power to cover ground if I call one of the other precincts. But we still have the Aquafin raids going forward today and I need you, as acting leader of that task force, to have a clear head when it happens."

"With all due respect, Ma'am, I can handle it. And I can find Hatake myself..."

"With all due respect, Detective, you have absolutely no idea what you're getting yourself into. You may be talented but you are still a rookie..."

"But I can find him, Tsunade, just give me a chance..."

"No!" Tsunade bellowed loudly, standing and slamming her hands to her desk, Sakura had never been on the receiving end of that tone before. "You've done enough, Sakura. Now _go home._"

She wasn't sure what was passing through her, never before had she dared to even imagine arguing with her Captain, arguing with Tsunade was a death sentence itself. But she couldn't let this slide, she tried instead to appeal to her emotionally as her favorite niece.

"Please, Tsunade, I need to do this..."

"And I need you to go home before I suspend you for insubordination. I'd do it right now if it weren't for the task force. I've seen the pictures of that undercover stint, I've read the reports of last night's botched job too, you are too close to Hatake to be objective. The both of you are too close to each other now, so step back and let us do our job, that is your orders Detective Haruno."

Silence filled the room, heated and prickly, an exchange between the eyes that could have ignited a match. Sakura clenched her fists and it was only when Pakkun made a soft whimpering at her ankles did she deign it time to move.

"Fine."

She spat the word before turning on her heels and leaving the office, making sure to slam the door on her exit for good measure. Refusing to make eye contact with anyone in the bullpen Sakura gathered her things and made for the elevator. Pakkun stayed by her side throughout.

As a young female doctor in a male dominated profession Sakura had learnt early on to school her emotions and she had once been very good at it. But now, when confronted with her own insecurities, being benched by her own female Captain no less, it was all she could do to keep herself from crying until she reached the sedan. Pakun seated safely beside her, when she turned the key to the ignition she felt her hands shake and had to stop herself for a moment.

It was a toxic cocktail of emotion, anger, frustration, worry, fear, such a heady combination that had rendered her useless in the eyes of her superiors. Was she really too close to Kakashi now? Partners were meant to be close, physically and emotionally, it was how the dynamic worked... wasn't it? The questions were too many and the answers too few that it made her headache. One thing was for certain, she couldn't stay here and watch while everyone made themselves useful.

If the worst had happened, if the Akatsuki had gotten to him, then there would be no trace. They needed another lead, a new lead, and fast.

As soon as her hands had stopped shaking Sakura took the wheel and went full tilt back to her apartment. Tsunade had said to go home, she'd said nothing about her working the case while she was there, the precinct laptop they had used to comb through the footage with was still at her place.

_She would be the one to find him._

Pakkun made a soft bark in agreement from his seat.

"You know, you're a much more agreeable partner than Kakashi." Those big eyes regarded her and for a moment she expected him to reply. "Let's find the bastard."

Lady Katsuyu wasn't impressed with the temporary arrangements, she'd hissed at Pakkun as soon as they walked in the door so Sakura had relegated her to the bedroom. Then she immediately threw open the laptop, it was still on and logged into Kakashi's profile for the precinct. Sakura sat on the floor at the coffee table while she perused what her partner had been looking at in the servers.

It was boring, it was useless information all of it and nothing she didn't already know. The negative thoughts began to invade her mind. If it were the other way around and she was the one missing, Kakashi would have found a lead by now, he would have uncovered something and be on his way to rescuing her no doubt. If only he was here, what would he look at first, there was nothing to look at. Not one piece of evidence to suggest where he may be, only missing parts of a puzzle and no traces of any clues. Even if Gai and Genma uncovered something in their searches she doubted strongly that they would let her know anything. Which left her with nothing and nowhere to look.

_You're going about this all wrong. _Sakura imagined that Kakashi was saying it to her in that bored way he always did when he felt he needed to show her how to do her job. _You're looking at the wrong thing. _Now she couldn't turn his voice off in her mind, she knew she was barking up the wrong tree but where else was there to look? _Not where, who..._

"Someone knows what happened..." She said it out loud because she needed to release the sudden surge of energy that came with the thought. "Kakashi did not go somewhere alone, he didn't go willingly, which means someone took him. _Someone..."_

Sakura scrolled furiously through the search history in Kakashi's tabs to see if anything or anyone jumped out at her. All she needed was a name and then she could make a start. Her finger stopped moving at the sight of Sasuke Uchiha's name in the database as if just recognizing the letters was terrifying enough to freeze her. But the fear didn't stem from that, nor from Sasuke, all she felt in regards to that man was anger pure and simple. What caused her body to feel as if it had been plunged into an ice bath was the memory of another Uchiha and the words he had spoken in this very apartment.

_"You have a habit of looking to the wrong Uchiha's."_

Later she would only be able to describe her current feeling as a hunch that would not let up but at the moment it was as if something was crawling up the back of her neck and pushing her to make her next move. It wasn't just a whim, it was an idea that festered and in her limited experience as a Detective, those were the best ideas to work on.

Without another thought, Sakura highlighted the search bar in the precinct server and typed in the name Shisui Uchiha.

It was the only name, the only lead that she had to go on and it had come from a suspected murderer... but she would never know if she didn't look. Maybe find this Shisui Uchiha herself and ask him some questions, maybe that would bring her a step closer to her missing partner.

The search immediately yielded results, a whole slew of them, Shisui Uchiha was an officer of the Konoha PD. But at the top of the list was a case that he had not worked on, it had been assigned to Detective Minato Namikaze... and it had been an investigation into the death of Officer Shisui. Sakura didn't know what to expect while she was downloading the files, she remembered Kakashi telling her once that there were no coincidences in murder investigations... but there was no proof Kakashi was dead, he was only missing. The question remained as to why Itachi had pointed her in the direction of a deceased cop whose case had been solved over ten years ago.

The crime scene photo opened first, and it answered some questions but created so many more.

Officer Shisui Uchiha had been murdered, eyes removed, and dismembered before being arranged into an intricate display of sickening madness. It was a picture that she all at once could never forget and never wanted to see again. But she knew in that instant that she was onto something, that even though her partner was the expert on the subject, she knew beyond a doubt… it was a sight too familiar to deny.

This had to be the work of the Kyuubi Killer.

It had all the disturbing markers and yet the task force assigned to catching the Kyuubi Killer had no details of this murder. It only took a moment's scrolling to figure out why...

The case had been solved and an arrest had been made, but when Sakura tried to dig deeper into the details, she was met with a digital brick wall. The files had been sealed by the former Chief of Detectives himself, Hiruzen Sarutobi. The only useful information she could discern were the locations and names of the detectives involved in the investigation. The crime scene pictures were there but didn't give any actual details on the investigation and who had been responsible.

There were more questions than answers at this point and the frustration grew to disproportionate levels. Her jaw was beginning to ache with her teeth clenched so tight but there was no time to relax, no seconds to spare to calm down, not when Kakashi could still be in danger.

There had to be another way to get this information. Sakura's eyes darted around her apartment while she was grasping at straws, she lingered her gaze over the two framed photographs on her wall. She couldn't call Tsunade, and she couldn't call Commissioner Jiraiya because he would tell Tsunade, Sakura wasn't sure if she trusted Genma and Gai enough to ask them covertly. What she needed was someone who wasn't in the Konoha PD, someone connected but able to operate through different systems…

"Yamato…"

She'd said it out loud to Pakkun, it was a breakthrough for her mind that couldn't stay silent. Pulling out her phone she scrolled through the list of contacts in dismay, usually Kakashi was his main point of contact, she wasn't even sure she'd ever called him from her own phone.

_Are you a detective, or aren't you? You can find a measly phone number…_

That's what Kakashi would say to her if he were here, without a doubt. It gave more strength to her resolve and she would need every ounce of it to navigate the phone lines at Axiom labs. After calling the general line and reaching an automated system with dozens of options, she began to see why Kakashi bypassed the usual channels when contacting Yamato about a case. It took ten minutes for her to reach an actual live person who worked for Axiom and the satisfaction of it was short lived. The call centre for the labs wasn't actually in the lab itself, so they had no idea to whom she was referring, and she was passed to another line. And again, and again, until eventually she reached the actual laboratory in Konoha. By this time her patience had checked out for good, and by the time she actually got through to the phone line in Yamato's lab she was not in the mood for any kind of malarkey.

"Yamato speaking."

"Finally, it has taken almost an hour to get through…"

"You should really get your phone checked if it took that long."

"Not in the mood, Yamato. Not in the mood."

"I'm judging by this sparkling tone and no-nonsense attitude that I am speaking with Detective Haruno. Why didn't you just call me from Kakashi's cell? Surely he will have told you about the nightmarish call centre navigation…"

"Kakashi's missing…"

Sakura had blurted the words out as if she needed them to be released, obviously Yamato didn't know, and she needed him caught up as soon as possible. There was a pregnant pause and some shuffling that on the other end of the line.

"What do you mean, missing?"

"I don't know how I can make it any clearer, Yamato. Vanished, gone, disappeared. No one has seen him since last night, he's not at his apartment, he's not at the cemetery…"

"Are you sure he's not just handcuffed to a bed somewhere?"

"He left Pakkun alone, overnight."

There was the sound of a muffled swear word and then silence. She would give him a moment to process the information, but what she needed right now was help and she wasn't even sure if he could, or would willingly provide it. Kakashi seemed to trust him and that counted for a lot in her books, but it all depended on his next reaction to the information.

"What do you need?"

The question caused her first genuine smile since yesterday.

"Listen, I'm not sure if you can help or not, I've got a lead but the files are sealed…"

"Tsunade can't open it for you?"

Sakura bit her lip trying to decide what to say to him. Should she tell him the truth? Would Kakashi? Did it make any difference?

"No, she can't. She says I'm too close to this one and sent me home."

"But you're working it anyway? You've learnt too much from Hatake y'know." Yamato was on the move judging by the sound of his voice. "If we're doing this off the books I need to know…"

Sakura cut him off.

"Look, the best shot we have at finding Kakashi alive, is me. I know all our cases inside and out, I know how he thinks, I'm his partner…"

"I know, I know, Sakura. But what I need to know is, are you prepared to deal with the consequences of what happens when a detective goes rogue? Are you prepared to lose your badge over this? Are you ready for the worst case scenario and what we might find at the end of the road?"

She didn't know what to say, what to think, the answer came to her mind automatically but it went against everything she had worked so hard for. This was Kakashi. This was the man who had shielded her from a bomb, the man who had allowed her into his closed off world, the man who'd shown her how to trust her intuition.

"Yes, I'm ready, I just want to find him."

Sakura had an involuntary train of thought, that this must be what Kakashi had gone through when Obito had first gone missing, she wondered if Yamato had given him the same speech at that time. Or if Kakashi had even thought to lean on anyone at all. She didn't have a choice in the matter and dwelling on the past wouldn't help either. The only lead she had to work on was sealed and it needed to be opened.

"We're doing this off the books, so I'm going to grab what I can and come directly to you, alright?"

"Sounds like you've done this before."

"You don't work with Kakashi Hatake for any length of time and not know how to bend the rules. Where do you live?"

There was no hesitation in giving the address, while Yamato was eccentric and on a normal day she wouldn't want him to know the location of her home, today she waited for him on the sidewalk with Pakkun outside. Doubt plagued her still, maybe she had made the wrong call in trusting him, it sounded too good to be true. He'd dropped his entire busy schedule in an instant without much persuasion. There wasn't time for doubts, not if the Akatsuki were behind it all, this was her only choice for now.

Yamato had ditched the white lab coat and she almost didn't recognize him when he pulled up.

"You weren't kidding..." Yamato said, opening the back door and retrieving a black duffel bag. "I heard some chatter on the way over here, the whole Konoha PD is out looking for him."

"You've got a police radio in you car? Did it say anything about his phone being traced?"

"It's not my car." He stepped closer, bending to scratch Pakkun on the chin, "The last confirmed sighting of Kakashi is your building, I didn't want my own car to be seen out front in case it tipped off Tsunade, so I borrowed my old partner's."

"You think they are watching the building?"

"Wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility, we are talking about a missing officer here, now let's get inside quick."

Sakura waited until they were safely in her apartment before all the words came tumbling out in a frenzy. She didn't want to miss out any detail, Yamato didn't say a word throughout, he immediately drew the curtains and began setting up the laptop he withdrew from the bag. When she stopped talking he began typing.

"First things first, let's see if they have had any luck with the phone trace."

Sakura moved to sit beside him at the table, she didn't recognize the program he was using, heck she barely recognized the words as English.

"What server are you using?"

Yamato smirked, his eyes narrowed to her for a second, it was smug and irritating.

"This is the one used by the secret services of Konoha to shadow government departments computers. I have admin permissions..."

"Are you... holy shit..."

"It's not without risk, so we will need to move fast while we're in here. With all the commotion going on at the precincts my guess is that they won't bother so much with one ping into an ongoing investigation. You owe me an orchid for this."

"You got it."

"Not a supermarket one either, I'm talking Rotchschild's..."

Sakura didn't know what the word meant, but if they were able to find some trace of Kakashi she would buy Yamato the whole goddamn plant store as thanks. If she knew anything about computers more than the necessary levels she would have known that Yamato was attempting to bypass the police log ins altogether.

"Gai ran the phone an hour ago, there have been no outgoing calls, no activity since last night, no chance of tracing it without it hitting off a tower or connecting to a Wi-Fi signal."

"Damn it. What about security footage from the street?"

It was dizzying to watch him work, Sakura considered herself pretty well versed when it came to technology, but Yamato made that look like chump change. In a few frenzied taps he had brought up another screen.

"Nothing that I can see, but that doesn't mean anything, it only means they haven't uploaded any footage to the servers. My guess is that Genma will be doing street checks in person. What was the number of the sealed case? Maybe we should just start there and assume the Akatsuki did their homework when they took Hatake."

Sakura jolted over to the living room to grab the laptop she had been using earlier.

"Kakashi would say that you should never operate an investigation under assumptions..."

"Kakashi would say that, but remember that's also coming from a man who once said there was nothing wrong with wearing double denim."

The page was still open on the computer for Yamato to see, crime scene pictures and all.

"Okay, let's see what happens when I input that case number into this server..."

She didn't know how he was doing it and she didn't care because it was working. The instant he brought the case file up Sakura could see the information that had been blacked out in her own screen. Including the reason why the case was sealed in the first place.

"'As part of the sentence given by the judge, all the details of the crimes committed are to be hereby sealed. There is to be no reporting of the crimes to the general media and no glory afforded to the accused'. Wait a minute, crimes?" Sakura elbowed Yamato out of the way to get to the screen.

"See that marker at the top? The red one? It means that this crime was tried with others at the time of conviction."

She was more interested in the details on the screen and didn't want to click into the others just yet, she was still trying to wrap her head around this one. The murder was grizzly enough in the few pictures that she had seen but the close up ones in higher quality really unsettled her stomach. Shisui Uchiha had been mutilated beyond all recognition.

"I recognize this..." Yamato's voice was shallow and his eyes were wide when Sakura turned to look at him.

"What do you mean? Did you work this case?"

"No... not this one... but look..."

Yamato nudged her back out of the way and tapped at the keyboard. What he brought up on the screen next was something that Sakura had the misfortune to see before, it wasn't anything new to her, but suddenly she was seeing it in a completely different light. They were the crime scene photos that had once adorned the walls of her partner's apartment, it was the murder scene of Obito Uchiha, and it mirrored this one exactly. Right down to the location of the body.

"They were in the same place..." Sakura swallowed thickly, she might have been excited if Kakashi had been here with them. "They were murdered in the same place, they have the same last name..."

"We're dealing with a copycat."

Yamato and Sakura exchanged glances quickly before both rushing to the keyboard, she had to flex her fingers a few times to stop herself from taking over. This was his database, his server, he knew better than she did on how to run it. Without needing to be asked, Yamato clicked into the list of the many crimes that had been tried at the same time as Shisui's murder. What they were met with was a comprehensive list of serial killings that had spanned over the course of a single decade. Committed by one man.

"Mr... Oorchimaru... I can't believe I've never heard of this guy before. He was prolific, upwards of 20 victims over a decade, they must have really not wanted people to know about what he did." Yamato wasn't scrolling fast enough for Sakura.

"Where is this guy now?"

"Konoha Maximum Security. Says here that he was due to be executed... this week actually. It's been delayed indefinitely because of the concern with transporting criminals at the moment. That van explosion you guys got caught up in seems to be affecting things all over the system."

_There are no coincidences in a murder investigation._

Sakura unabashedly shoved Yamato out of the way and got to work, she couldn't help herself this time, something dark and urgent was pushing her forwards. She was a detective after all, and she was going to do what she did best, find out things that no one else could. She had done it before, she could do it again, would do it for the sake of her partner's life. Everything else around her became white noise, Pakkun, Yamato, her cell phone buzzing vaguely in the distance. What concerned her the most was that the crimes were not listed in chronological order, only in order of sentencing, she was having to click into each murder individually and she just didn't have the time.

"Yamato, is there any way to get these crimes listed by dates? It's not allowing me to reorder them."

Her head darted around the room, she was surprised that he wasn't directly next to her, instead he was sitting on the sofa with Pakkun. He came over in an instant.

"You know you work just like Kakashi, once you're onto something you go into your own little world." His eyes narrowed at the monitor. "It won't let you reorder them because they were scanned into the system via case number and not date. But you can add the dates to appear in the list if you click down here..."

That was all she needed to hear and within a few quick taps she finally had what she was looking for. The murders in a list of dates committed, all she had to do now was to compare them. She pulled the other laptop closer to her and logged into the Kyuubi killings. Side by side the crime scene pictures told a chilling tale, a copy of those murders committed years earlier in exact sickening detail. Right down to Mizuki's in the back of a prisoner transport van... right down to the exact location of that van... and the date on the calendar.

"Jesus Christ." Yamato breathed in her ear as he studied the two screens. "They are like carbon copies."

Sakura wasn't interested in what he had to say, she wasn't even interested in any of the first crimes of this Oorchimaru, all she cared about was the next murder in the timeline. With shaking hands she clicked into the glaring date as if it were taunting her.

"That's tomorrow..." Yamato breathed, as if she needed reminding that they were on borrowed time.

The details of this murder were so gruesome that she felt bile rise in her throat. Not just the way that he had been killed, but the display of the body after the fact, it was the Kyuubi killer's MO to a tee but with one horrifying new addition. This victim, a Konoha detective by the name of Azuma Sarutobi, had been alive at the time of dismemberment... he'd been left in an unused drain pipe on the outskirts of the water treatment facility.

"Sarutobi... that's the son of the former Chief..." Yamato sat down and ran a hand through his hair. "I never knew how he died, they said he was killed in the line of duty..."

Sakura was standing and grabbing her keys.

"That's where Kakashi is."

She checked the weapon at her hip, and unlocked the gun from the side drawer as well for the other hip, just in case.

"You are not going alone, I'm coming with you." Yamato was now standing as well.

Sakura was about to respond when she saw her phone lighting up from where she had thrown it on the table. It was Tsunade, she'd called twice, and Sakura knew if she called three times with no reply that there would be officers here within seconds. She just didn't have any seconds to spare, she didn't want to be held up for any longer than necessary.

"No," she interrupted his protests before they began. "You stay here with Pakkun, if anyone shows up here tell them I'm in the bathroom or something. Hide the computers, if they ask why you're here just say... I don't know, say we're fuck buddies or something. I don't want you to lose your job over this, I can still find Kakashi and bring him back without anyone knowing we went rogue..."

"That's fine and all but there's one problem with that... I'm gay."

Sakura blinked a couple times before she started to move.

"You think of an excuse then! If I need back up I'll phone it in to Gai, alright?"

And she was gone. The elevator was too slow so she threw herself down the stairs unceremoniously. Kakashi might have been proud at how fast she drove that sedan to the outskirts of Konoha.

_Make sure you tell me when you find me..._

Sirens blaring and stopping for no one, the frantic journey to the water treatment plant was fast paced but still not fast enough. It felt like an eternity before she got close to where she needed to be. Regret filled her the second she saw the towering structure of the water treatment plant, she should have brought a medical kit with her or something, Pakkun might have been more help at this stage and been able to sniff Kakashi out.

Sakura's phone lit up with an unidentified number and she pulled over to answer. She had little hope that it would be Kakashi, justified as she heard Yamato's frantic voice.

"You idiot, Haruno, you just dive straight in without taking any of the details with you, do you even know what pipe to look for and where?"

"I don't have time for this shit, Yamato, send it to me."

She hung up. She should have thanked him because she had been in the complete dark until his phone call, but at this point her mind was only able to process so many things while fogged by adrenaline. True to his word Yamato sent through screen shots of the pipe that Detective Sarutobi's body had been found in, along with an aerial shot of the location. The crime had been almost a decade ago and the landscape had undergone some significant changes but that pipe had to be there. The Kyuubi Killer wouldn't have made a move if the sight wasn't ready, and though the thought was disturbing it also offered Sakura a little comfort. Enough at least to clear her mind in order to think.

There were approximately two hours left of sunlight and time was against her. What if that date of death had been wrong? Technology has come far in that decade, and if the original ME had been just a day out then Kakashi was out of time.

At the first sign of what she was looking for Sakura parked the shitty sedan in the nearest ditch. She withdrew her gun and cocked it, she would use deadly force if necessary, she would save him no matter what it took.

_Stop thinking like a girl and start thinking like the detective you are, use those gifts you were born with, trust your instincts as a detective..._

Kakashi's words were in her head, they were a poor substitute for the man himself but for now they would have to do. Taking a deep breath she steadied herself for what she might find before she began to take a better look at her surroundings.

There had to be something, somewhere, signs of a struggle, a clue left by Kakashi... anything. But all she could see was the overgrown grass and babbling creeks of dirty water coming from the base of the plant. With the barrel of her gun trained at the nearest pipe opening she quickly glanced down at her phone to get some more details.

The one in the middle, that was the one used before.

Sakura changed course, she climbed over a small dilapidated fence, trudged through a low stream with her eyes never leaving that pipe. The incline made it harder to move fast but she also didn't want to give away her location should some undesirables still be inside of it. The bush and grass worked as excellent cover but she still couldn't see into the shadows of that pipe to work out if it was safe to enter...

Yamato knew where she was, he would send for someone if she didn't return, right now she needed to move.

There was a trickle of water that came from the middle pipe but the closer she stepped towards it, the more she saw that the water was tainted red. It was blood. It got deeper and darker and more sickening with each step.

"Konoha PD! Show yourselves!"

Curse the shadow, she should have brought a torch with her, it was impossible to see anything. There was no movement and no reply, just the ominous dripping noise that reached her ears.

_Your phone has a torch._

The LED light did little to improve the situation, it merely highlighted the red patches on the concrete. She panned the light up from the floor and she stepped inch by inch into the tunnel, her eyes began to adjust of their own accord, and then she dropped everything.

The white hair was what caught her attention first.

At the very back, handcuffed to a grate by his own handcuffs, was Detective Kakashi Hatake. He was wearing the white shirt that had been underneath his suit jacket the night before, though now it was red with blood, it was gushing from the left side of his head.

"Kakashi!"

_He's not dead. They haven't cut him into pieces. He's not dead..._

The more the mantra ran through her mind, the harder it was to find a pulse at his neck and listen for his breathing. As a doctor she had performed countless surgeries, she was no stranger to blood and wounds, but because this was her partner... her friend... well it became that much harder to think and see with tears in her eyes. Finally she found a dull pulse, barely there and struggling. She then switched her focus to freeing him then staunching the bleeding.

"Have you been shot? Where is all this blood coming from?"

She couldn't stop the shaking, couldn't stop the panic, there was only one man who had ever been able to calm her.

"You're... definitely...a better detective... than doctor… don't know where… blood comes from..." Kakashi coughed between the words and a tidal wave of relief followed it.

"Kakashi! Don't talk, I'll fix you up, I promise..." The tears spilled out unabashed.

"Sakura... you fixed me up a long time ago."

She stopped panicking long enough to look at his face, that smirk was there intact, a deep cut now running over his left eye. But in the eye that was open and staring intently at her, well she saw that spark, he was here and alive. Later she would claim it was out of sheer relief alone but even she had a hard time explaining her next action. Sobbing quietly she threw her arms around him, buried her face into his neck.

"Thank god."


	23. Chapter 23

Once upon a time Kakashi would have slapped a person, or had them committed, if they had told him that one day he would entertain the notion of fate or a higher power. When he'd heard her voice and felt her arms around him that idea was forced from his mind. Of course she would find him, she is an amazing detective, she's his partner. It must have been the blood loss and dehydration alone that had led him to consider that she had been sent to him by Obito from the beyond.

If he'd had any strength left in his arms he would have reciprocated the embrace, though Sakura didn't seem to care or notice. When she pulled back there were fresh tears cascading down her cheeks.

"Be careful with those cuffs... They might have... trace evidence..." Kakashi still couldn't force his throat to allow the words to come out as he would like.

She'd used her own key to unlock the cuffs and put them immediately into her pocket, Kakashi wasn't able to concentrate properly, all he wanted to do was get her out of here.

"Is there anyone here? Do I need to call for backup?"

He honestly didn't know, he could barely discern her voice or what time of day it was. It seemed that every time his eyes closed for the necessary blinking more time was lost to the darkness, when he had the energy to open them again he wasn't sure how many minutes had passed. It was a new kind of frustration he had never come across before, he was angry at his own body's limitations and inability to keep focus.

"Not sure..." Kakashi tried to shake his head and restart his brain but it suddenly became impossible to control the movement and bile rose in his throat. By the tie he was able to focus his eyes again it was like watching a set of still photos one after another. First Sakura was checking him over, then she was running to pick up her phone from the ground, then she was right beside him again with the phone to her ear.

"Kakashi! Can you hear me?"

"Huh?" It was like being woken up mid nap and just as impossible to concentrate for any length of time.

"Back up is coming, we need to get you out of here and to a hospital..."

He wanted to protest, he wanted to stand and shake the dust off his clothes and get on with the investigation, he wanted to scream all the new information he'd been able to gather while being held here. But his body just wouldn't comply with anything he wanted. Later on he would take note of the inhumane strength with which Sakura got him to his feet and supported him all the way to the sedan. Or at least he assumed that was what had happened, his brain was still only providing him with small snapshots of what was actually happening.

_It's dangerous, Kakashi, you need to wake up now, wake up now! What if they come back for her? Wake up, wake up!_

The sedan jostled him as it turned a corner at full speed, Kakashi felt as if Obito had been physically shaking him awake as well as screaming the words in his ear. It was the first time he'd been able to see with any clarity and actually feel awake enough to realize what was happening. Though he could now only see out of one eye.

"Stay with me, Kakashi, stay awake now!"

Sakura was shouting over the sirens in a tone that was entirely foreign to Kakashi. She sounded firm and commanding but with an underlying desperation that automatically tugged at his heart without his express approval. Against his better judgement, Kakashi tried to move his arms, finding that now his hands were complying to his brain's orders. He reached up and brushed his fingers against the wound that crossed over his eye, finding wet cloth under their touch, he pulled his hand back to find blood staining his skin. Sakura had dried to dress the wound with something and he had absolutely no recollection of it happening, and that thought was almost as terrifying as what had happened to him in that abandoned pipe.

"Is anyone... following us?" Kakashi's own voice sounded unfamiliar to him now too.

"Oh thank god, you're awake. No one is tailing us, I've been keeping watch, backup is already at the treatment plant. Keep talking, Kakashi, we're almost at the hospital, stay awake and keep talking to me..."

_She must be worried about concussion._

"They said they were... coming back to finish the job..." Flashes of what had occurred over the past 12 hours came to the forefront of his mind, it was frustrating not having complete control over his thoughts, especially when he'd been so meticulous about gathering any and all intell he could.

"They won't get you now, I won't let them. Why did they leave you unattended in the first place?"

In an instant a veritable assault of memories replayed in his mind, vividly and without sparing any of the pain that accompanied them. It might have caused Kakashi to audibly grunt at the sensation, it really felt as if someone had struck him across the face with a plank, but he was only hit with the exact details.

And suddenly panic was gripping him.

"They had... a police radio with them, they heard about the raids... they left to set explosives at the Aquafin plants." Kakashi didn't even notice the pain that accompanied the head turn as he caught Sakura's wide eyes with his own. "We need to warn them, now!"

If it weren't for the gaping wound across his face or the fact that she had pried him from the hands of the Akatsuki themselves, he would have expected Sakura to question him. He was almost preparing for her to challenge him and his crazy notion about the raids but instead she pushed the accelerator all the way to the floor and Kakashi picked up the radio receiver with some difficulty.

"Dispatch, badge number 009720, code 10-79, repeat 10-79 across multiple locations..." Kakashi fought through the wave of blurry nausea that came over him, his good eye closing as he tried to push forward until he felt Sakura's hand take the receiver from him.

"You are hemorrhaging from that cut with possible concussion and god knows what else, just focus on staying awake for now."

"They are going to blow those sites sky high, Haruno, there are lives at stake here..."

"The raids aren't for another 5 hours and your life is all I care about, got it. So just do as your goddamn told for a change."

The gravity of her words would not hit home with Kakashi until much later. As she said them all he could admit to was that he was unable to discern what day it was or how much time had passed for him. The light outside was little help, it was darker now, with no sun he wasn't so sure on the time. After Sakura had spoken with dispatch and hung up Kakashi's mind finally began to slowly come back to him.

"How did you find me?"

"It's a long story..."

"Lucky we've got time and I need distraction..." The pain in his shoulders was now noticeable enough but the pain that shot across his left eye was almost more than he could bare. Like a shot of debilitating migraine that randomly decided to spike.

"I didn't find you on my own, Yamato helped." If he wasn't in agony he might've noted the way a shadow of fear crossed her eyes briefly. "It started with Itachi Uchiha waiting for me in my apartment when you dropped me off last night."

Was he delirious now? Because the tale she was telling certainly gave him that impression, it was too ludicrous to be true, and yet because it was Sakura Haruno telling it he knew it had to be the Uchiha had waited for her, made her promise to stay away from Sasuke, and then given her a name in good faith. A name that Kakashi thought oddly familiar but could not give a reason for the feeling.

"Shisui Uchiha... it rings a bell..."

Sakura paused while they went through a set of busy traffic lights on their way to the hospital.

"Officer Shisui Uchiha, murdered while on duty ten years ago, eyes removed, body posed... sound familiar?"

Pain shot through him again and he couldn't bring himself to speak or think. Overwhelming tiredness was riddling him as soon as that sedan stopped out front in the emergency bay. The implications of her words would only come to him once he was safely being ushered into the waiting operating suite at Konoha General.

Kakashi didn't care about anything the doctors or nurses had to say, he didn't believe in luck, he didn't need them to try and give all the credit to luck. The only thing he cared about was whatever his pink haired partner had to say, but it was impossible to speak on anything with the ensuing fuss. An IV line was started immediately by Sakura herself. The room would occasionally fade into blurriness induced by the pain and the bright lights in his eyes, but each time it happened there would be a soft touch that brought him back to reality. A hand on his, wiping his brow, brushing his hair with her fingers... Sakura seemed to know just what touch and when to give it, there were other doctors touching him as well but none of them held the gravitas that hers did.

Slowly and surely the pain began to fade away as more blood was pumped into his body, and he was finally able to concentrate and take everything in. A sole nurse was cleaning up the mess left behind by surgical glue that had been applied to the wound across his eye, Sakura sat on a chair next to him with wide eyes and looking more disheveled than when that bomb had gone off at their crime scene. His wits were also returning to him, he didn't want to speak to Sakura about what had happened with the nurse present, he could tell she was also waiting for her to leave. Smiling she left them, Kakashi could see two officers stationed outside his door, and glanced sideways to Sakura.

"Do you think they're listening?"

"Probably not." It felt like Kakashi's ears had been ringing for so long that when it was finally just the two of them again, the silence was almost deafening itself. "Fill me in as quick as you can."

Sakura seemed tense throughout her whole body as she spoke.

"I'll fill you in on the specifics later, but what we worked out was that Officer Shisui was the victim of a serial killer in Konoha that was caught years ago. He wasn't the first victim, and he wasn't the last. After his murder was the killing of Detective Asuma Sarutobi..."

"I know that name too..."

"He was the son of the Chief of Detectives, and his body... was found in that drain pipe where you were kept." Sakura averted her gaze in a rare act of vulnerability, odd since she had single-handedly gotten him out of there and to safety, but there was no time to analyze the expression. ""The killer was caught, some guy by the name of Oorochimaru, then all records of the killings were sealed by Hiruzen Sarutobi."

"But if he was caught, that would mean..."

"That the Kyuubi Killer is a copycat. Without a doubt. Officer Shisui's body was found at the same location as Obito's, in the same position... the other's all matched as well down to the dates. The anniversary of Asuma's death is tomorrow... "

"They were leaving me there for this copycat..."

"Who's they?"

"I was taken by two of the Akatsuki, picked up by Kisame Hoshigaki himself and one of his psycho henchman. Guy going by the name of Hidan, though it's probably an alias."

"It doesn't make any sense why they would leave you injured? You could have died of blood loss or dehydration before the killer came back, that would have mucked up the order of his copy kills and one of the few things we do know is how exact he is with the details..."

"Oh, this was self inflicted." Kakashi gestured to the gash across his face and nodded towards an agape Sakura, he needed to explain quickly but also didn't want to tell her the whole truth. He didn't want her to worry any more than she already had, and he knew how sickening that feeling was when your partner was gone without a trace. At the same time he couldn't bring himself to lie to her, not when she had risked her own life to save him. "I... lost my cool. Thought maybe if I used enough charm I could get myself out of the situation unscathed... and making jokes worked at first... but then they started talking and I lost my cool."

"What were they talking about to make you lose it? I've only ever seen Mizuki on the receiving end of..." Her sentence trailed off, her mind catching up quickly.

They had been talking about what they were going to do to Sakura and Kakashi had been unable to contain himself. He'd smashed his forehead against the head of the leather jacketed asshole next to him, cutting himself on the eyebrow piercing he hadn't seen. He'd tried to kick and bite his way out of their clutches, but it had been 3 against 1 and his hands had been restrained using his own cuffs. Soon it had been too much for one man, and he'd tried his darndest to goad them into fights, thinking that the more fights he had the more chances there would be to getaway and warn his partner. There was an urge within him to sugarcoat the details so that she would never be plagued by the images... there was an all encompassing need to protect her even now.

When the hospital door slammed open Kakashi jerked in the bed, Sakura reached for the gun at her hip.

"Hatake! Thank god you're alive..."

"Captain, you didn't have to come all the way down here to see me..."

"Let me finish, thank god you're alive so I can beat your ass to death, what the hell were you thinking? You allowed yourself to be kidnapped by the goddamn organization we're trying to bring down...

"With all due respect, Ma'am, Detective Hatake was able to get some invaluable intell..."

"Don't get me started on you, insolent girl." Tsunade had shifted her attention to Sakura with a pointed finger of fury that Kakashi was usually on the receiving end of. "You keep your mouth shut until I address you to speak, Detective Haruno. Hatake, I want all the details you can provide on what you heard about the raids, now."

He wanted to tell Tsunade where she could shove it for the way she spoke to his partner, but he appeared to be missing a crucial piece of the puzzle yet. Kakashi tried to remember that he had to keep his expression passive if he wanted the glue to hold his face together, so he settled for narrowing his one working eye.

"I arrived at my apartment building just after 11pm lastnight to find a limousine waiting for me. I was ordered at gunpoint to get into the vehicle by an unknown assailant operating under the alias Hidan. I never learned the drivers name, but inside the limousine pointing another gun at me, was Kisame Hoshigaki."

"He already knew that we were after him…"

"Precisely." Even though she wasn't allowed to speak, Kakashi glanced over to Sakura and quickly away again. He couldn't admit in front of Tsunade how or why he had lost his composure at the time and gotten himself injured. It was the mistake of a rookie, not a senior detective. "They swapped vehicles and put a blindfold on me to keep the locations secret, but they never bothered to block my ears, they got lazy. When we reached the final location, that pipe at the water station, they were ordered to guard but then there was a call over the radio."

"They were tapped into our frequency…"

"They heard everything, and so did I. Every factory and store that is being hit tonight by squads is already compromised. The two dolts who were meant to be keeping watch got a phone call soon after, I pretended to be unconscious, they were leaving to pick up explosives from a drop site on the Suna border."

"This fucking day just keeps getting worse…" Tsunade was already pulling her phone out of her pocket and began typing.

Kakashi tried to power through a sudden wave of pain and nausea, he tried to sound and look impassive under the ever watchful eyes of Sakura, scrutinizing his every flinch with that worried expression on her face.

"You need to call off the raids and call in the bomb squads, before anyone gets hurt, there is no way to know how much damage they're planning on causing..."

"Are you telling me how to do my own job, detective? Why don't you just concern yourself with getting better and not being kidnapped by the Akatsuki. Haruno, I'll be speaking to you in private, follow me."

Kakashi was getting a whiff of animosity between the Captain and Sakura, but she was probably just in a bad mood, the expensive task force she was running in a time of budget cuts was now compromised. But he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something they weren't telling him. The more blood and fluids that returned to his body the more his mind was able to catch up. The Kyuubi Killer, the person he had been hunting for over a year, was a copycat and he'd had no idea. Sakura had said the records were sealed but if this were the case surely a task force formed to catch the guy would have been offered information on the original killings. There was only one reason Kakashi could think of that made sense, the police radio, the tip offs to the task force and the sealed records...

There had to be a mole high up in the ranks of the Konoha PD.

Minutes may have passed while he silently ruminated on the horrifying truth. Another nurse with long dark hair came in to change his now empty bag of IV fluids, she said nothing, a silent professional... Which is why Kakashi's next move scared the hell out of her.

"Mr..Mr Hatake, please don't try to stand up..." She stuttered and fussed over him.

There were a couple plays he could pull here to get away without too much work. The first was simple charm, but judging by the wavering of her voice any kind of advance from a man would not have the desired result. So Kakashi decided to go with the tried and true, bathroom emergency.

"I don't mean to be a bother, but I need to use the bathroom…"

The nurse turned a shade of blush that Kakashi had only ever seen on the noses of clowns before she stuttered a reply.

"Oh, oh of course! Please, let me assist you.."

He didn't need her help strictly, but he needed to get out of that room and passed the guards at the door, he needed to get back to work and there wasn't any time to lose. The sickening light headedness that accompanied his standing was a nuisance but it passed by the time he was able to put one foot in front of the other. What he needed now was to get to a phone and get the ball rolling, he also needed to find Sakura…

As predicted the nurse simpered away to give him privacy as soon as he reached the door to the men's bathroom, she'd gone through the trouble of removing the bag connected to his IV line to make it easier for him. For appearances sake, Kakashi went into the bathroom and locked the door, he opened it again within 10 seconds, and his hunch had again proven correct. With a busy emergency department the nurse's attention had already been commanded elsewhere, which meant he could get away unhindered. Except he was forced to a stop by an all too familiar sound, the sound of Tsunade chewing someone out. It was peculiar not to be on the receiving end of such an assault.

Kakashi peered around the corner to see just what was going on…

"Look at me while I'm talking to you…"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Did I give you permission to speak? You are lucky that you aren't being landed with a suspension. There is no excuse, Haruno, you went behind my back to get classified information. You have no idea how much trouble you've landed me in, the precinct, as well as yourself. The commissioner wants me to pull you off the case, you have compromised a month's worth of investigation, even if we catch this bastard now there's a chance he could get off because of _your stupidity…"_

Kakashi couldn't see Tsunade's face, but he didn't need to, the fury was practically radiating from her. Instead he chose to focus on the only thing in that hallway that was of importance to him. Sakura's face gave nothing away, but he knew her well enough now, he knew that it was trained impassiveness so that she wouldn't make herself vulnerable to whoever she was talking to. It was something she had done when they had first started working together but over the weeks had faded and he'd started to see her real features. Or maybe he just knew her a little better and could read her... it was hard to say what was more accurate. Truth be known at this very minute he couldn't even identify his own feelings.

What he did know was that Sakura didn't deserve to be spoken to like that by anyone, not even the Captain. She had just saved his life, she had done what any good partner and detective would have done, she wasn't even arguing back and it didn't sit right with him all of a sudden.

By the time Kakashi made the mental connections to move his feet in the direction he wanted them to go, Tsunade had already left, leaving Sakura standing there leaning against the nurses station. It was here that he was struck with the demoralizing truth, she had not only chewed him out in front of the staff, but this was Konoha Grace Hospital. Where Sakura had practiced medicine.

_If only I had gotten here sooner..._

"You heard all that, huh?" She asked, not even turning around on his slow approach.

"Hard not to hear an explosion that size."

Kakashi wasn't quite sure what to say next, his instincts were telling him to protect her, but he had been too late to do so, again. It seemed to be habit forming, he'd been too late to save Obito, but this was different. Sakura was standing right here in front of him, he still had a chance to do something about this before it festered. Tentatively he reached his hand towards hers, brushing his palm against her knuckles and holding it there. He could write it off as a ploy to get her attention but it went deeper than that, and he could feel that connection.

"Sakura, it might be true, that Detectives who break the rules are treated like scum..." He took a deep and involuntary breath when her green eyes met his, the memory of those same eyes as they had locked lips days earlier startling him. "But a Detective who abandons their partner, well they are even worse than scum."

He'd hoped to add an extra measure of sincerity to his tone, that his words might reach through the void and pull her out of the darkness enough so that they could move on. And for a moment he wondered if he had missed the mark entirely.

"Is that your way of saying thank you, without actually saying it?"

She offered him a half smile, and considering the situation he decided to take it. Perhaps she didn't need his protection in all areas of the job, she had made it this far on her own strength, but there were some thoughts... some feelings that were out of one's control.

"What I'm saying is that you did an excellent job, despite what Tsunade said..."

"And?"

"And... thank you for saving my life, or whatever..."

"There we go. Much better." Sakura huffed in amusement at his expense but he didn't even care at this point and joined in. It would be short lived. "Wait, what are you doing out here? You better not be discharging yourself..."

"Well, we are on a time limit, and I'm feeling alright..."

"You fucking idiot... Well, fine, but on one condition. You're staying with me so I can monitor your condition."

"Like my own private nurse? I can handle that."

"_Doctor, _Hatake, _Doctor. _And I severely doubt you can handle any part of me..."

The glint of innuendo in her eye was enough to recharge his tired bones. His hand was still touching hers and he made no effort to remove it.

"If you're looking after me then who's looking after the task force? What about the raids?"

"Doesn't matter, Tsunade has sent me home anyway."

"Suspension?"

"Not quite, thankfully."

"She say anything about not working the case?"

"She was _very _specific about _me _not working..." Sakura's eyes narrowed and a smirk formed, it was so familiar to him he might have been looking in a mirror.

"But she didn't say anything about _me _working the case, nice find, Haruno. Let's get going."

Her sudden vice like grip on his wrist stopped him from any kind of movement, out of fear, worry, trepidation... and excitement. It all caused him to cease functioning though it was a completely innocent act.

"There is no way you're just walking out of here without telling anyone. These nurses will get reamed for it worse than what Tsunade did to me. Wait.. which poor nurse did you trick into letting you out of bed without the line attached?"

Kakashi scratched his head sheepishly with his other hand while the nurse in question appeared behind the desk.

"Doctor Haruno... I mean Detective, sorry, your p-partner he's gone..."

"Got him." Sakura held up the wrist that she still held for the nurse to see, her eyes following to who it was attached to with visible relief, though it didn't halt her stammer or the blush on her face.

"Oh, thank goodness. He really shouldn't be out of bed just yet, we need to get more fluids into him, and there's still blood tests to be done."

"Hinata, would you be able to do me a favor?"

"Of course, Sakura, whatever you need..."

Kakashi blinked a couple times, it was as if he were seeing his own reflection, had Sakura picked up this ability from himself? Or had she been secretly harboring it all along, waiting to strike... either way he was skeptical and concerned that she had been playing him like a fiddle this whole time.

"We really need to get back to the case, are you still chief nurse of this department?"

"Y-yes, I am."

"Would you have any concerns, medically, if this patient were to be released into my care? I am still licensed and up to date with current procedure."

"Of course not! I have to say, if you are looking for immediate discharge, there is an issue of safety protocol. Detective Hatake has been classified as high risk and needing a tier 2 escort or higher..."

The next look that crossed Sakura's face was one that Kakashi would remember always. It was one that he recognized from his days with Obito, when all the stars aligned and the outrageous plan was set in motion without a hitch.

"Well..." Sakura relinquished her grip and withdrew her badge from her belt. "It's just lucky that I am also qualified as escort. Would you be able to sign the papers for us, please Hinata?"

Kakashi watched the nurse as she smiled coyly and produced the papers from behind her back, already completed and just waiting for Kakashi's own signature. Sakura winked at Kakashi while Hinata leaned forward with the clipboard.

"I had them printed out as soon as Mr. Hatake got out of bed. I do have one suggestion..." Nurse Hinata beckoned them forward with a finger. "You may want to take the side exit through the maternity suite, your... C-captain is still out front making noise."

Sakura was able to procure some supplies quickly with the aid of the Chief Nurse, including new bandages for the wound to his face and fluids. She was strict about bringing him right back for a transfusion if it were necessary, and that he would be coming back to be checked in a day or two, Kakashi decided that this was ample time to come up with an acceptable excuse to get out of it. Within ten minutes they were out the side entrance and ducking behind cars on their way to the sedan.

"She seems really nice, I wonder if I can get her to babysit Pakkun..."

"Stay. Away. From. Hinata." Sakura punctuated each word fiercely. "She is far too wholesome to be exposed to the likes of you."

"Ah, I wondered whether you learned that little act from yours truly, I appear to have finally broken your wholesome exterior, Haruno-"

Kakashi was cut off by sudden and unexpected physical contact to his abdomen, he had to take a few seconds to realize what was happening. Looking down there was a head of pink buried into his chest and two arms wrapped around him so tightly it was hard to breathe. This time he was able to reciprocate at least, placing a cautious arm around her.

"It's good to have you back, Kakashi..."


	24. Chapter 24

As an afterthought Sakura had messaged Yamato from the hospital while Kakashi was being stitched up. She'd completely forgotten to let him know that Kakashi had been found, though she suspected that he already knew what was going on from his own resources. So the frosty attitude with which he greeted her and Kakashi at the door to her apartment was not unexpected.

"Sakura, you had me scared half to death, you didn't think to call?"

"Sorry, Yamato, things got a little out of hand…"

"Out of hand? All I heard was chatter about an officer down and you were suddenly not answering, what the hell was I meant to think? Oh, hi Kakashi, you look like shit."

Yamato stepped back and let them both enter the apartment. The ride over had been an odd cocktail of emotions, that hug had been fraught with an intense warmth that she couldn't explain, and it had lingered for far too long. Even now she could still feel the afterimage of that heat, and she knew that Kakashi had felt something too, the calculated silence on the way over here was a dead giveaway.

But they had a job to do, and now wasn't the time to be discussing something as trivial as 'feelings'. Being a woman in a male dominated profession for her entire career had certainly lead Sakura to believe that talks about thoughts and feelings should only happen as a last possible resort, even then it would be generally frowned upon. She should just write it off as the after effect of the turbulent 48 hours that had just come to pass.

"Thanks… Tenzou."

"It's Yamato, remember? I must admit, you had me really worried there, it's good to have you back-"

They were interrupted by Pakkun barreling towards Kakashi at a speed Sakura didn't realize the pug was capable of. While the dog was scooped up in his arms and examined the bandage across his master's face, Sakura dead bolted the door and put the chain across. Just because she'd snatched Kakashi from the clutches of the Kyuubi Killer didn't mean that they could afford to stop being careful now. Someone could be coming back to finish the job. Yamato continued undeterred.

"It's a shame about your eye, do they think you'll lose sight in it?"

"Didn't stick around the hospital long enough to find out. Besides, we've got bigger things to be concerned about right now." Kakashi put Pakkun back on the floor and he immediately sat himself down at the foot of Lady Katsuyu's chair, the cat appeared not to notice. "We just disrupted the pattern of a dangerous psychopath and there's still time on the clock for them to fix it. We've got to be prepared for the fallout. Yamato, I'm going to need to see every detail of the original murders."

"I knew you would say that. There's no point asking if he should be working in this state, is there, Sakura?"

"Hmm? Of course not, you know this stubborn ass. Besides, he's the only one of us cleared to work the case at the moment, surprisingly." She rolled her eyes for good measure.

"So we're going off the books again, alright. Just know that I can give you viewing access only, if there's any screenshots or file sharing we're going to alert..." Yamato seemed to sense the doom before he finished the question. "You didn't tell Tsunade how you got the information?"

"No, I did not. But she's a good cop, she'll work it out eventually..."

"Not if we're faster..." Yamato was already back on the laptop before she could blink.

Kakashi was soon pulling up a chair so that he could watch the screen, there was just a bit too much gusto about the way he was moving, he was overcompensating for pain. Sakura could tell, she was trained to spot such a thing, but also she'd seen her fair share of bulletproof males who tried to hide pain from their doctors.

"As your personal physician and caregiver, Hatake, I'm warning you. Ten minutes until the next vitals check, understood?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"He must have been hit in the head if he's complying so willingly..." Yamato comically raised a hand to his mouth so that Kakashi couldn't see his mouth while he was speaking.

"I got the same apprehensive feeling as when Tsunade makes an order, Yamato, there is only one answer you can give in that situation."

"Oh, yeah, you're right."

Sakura would have rolled her eyes if her head didn't suddenly hurt so much. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had anything to drink which was probably behind it. Sakura did what she always did in high pressure situations when there was a lot of work to do, she made a list in her mind and began ticking them off one by one. First of all, fluids, tea and something to eat. Kakashi would also need something to eat with his next round of medication and more fluids. Then she wanted to see if the glue had set properly before he took his next dose of pain relief.

"Sakura!"

Kakashi's voice shattered her inner minds workings.

"Hmm? What?" Sakura popped her head into the lounge from the kitchen.

"It's just occurred to me, the Akatsuki have my weapon..." Kakashi was holding Yamato's phone to his ear. "They also have my departmentally issued phone. Do you have..."

"There's a spare revolver in my bedroom, _don't get up I'll get it, _don't lose this one or I'll slap you..." Sakura was pacing down the hallway while biting into an apple, her body was protesting at her to eat something substantial by the time she returned to the living room, and she was considering the unthinkable. Desperate times called for desperate measures."I'm going to order food, is there anything you guys feel like?"

Kakashi's jaw dropped in such a comical way she felt like slapping him before she even handed him the gun.

"You've changed since my kidnapping, Haruno, never thought I'd live to see the day that you'd order take-out. Pizza?"

"Ugh, fine, I'll order it. Wait, is this a good idea? There's a serial killer and a criminal organization gunning for you, should we really just be inviting strangers up to my apartment?" In response to Sakura's question both Yamato and Kakashi cocked their weapons, she wasn't even sure when Yamato had taken his out. "So you're both willing to risk your lives for pizza, good to know."

Knowing that food was on it's way was enough to soften the dull ache in her head but it would be only temporary.

"Okay, let's go over the facts we have." Yamato glanced over to Sakura as he spoke, she was depositing herself down on the sofa.

"I think we can now say definitively that Kisame Hoshigaki is involved with the Akatsuki. He could potentially be leading the entire organization. Do you think he could also be the Kyuubi Killer?" Sakura had asked Kakashi and she was immediately to her feet when she saw him fuss over the bandage across his eye.

"I haven't got enough evidence to rule him out at this point. If it isn't him, he knows the killer personally. Which is fact-the-second, we have confirmation now that the Kyuubi Killer is connected to the Akat- Sakura would you stop that, it hurts!" Kakashi swatted her hand away as she attempted to tighten the bandage.

"Following that logic we can also say that Itachi Uchiha has insider knowledge of the Kyuubi Killer and possibly the Akatsuki, he knew who the next victim of Orochimaru was, he didn't give away any details but all that information was sealed so... Stop being a baby, Kakashi, stay still so I can fix it..."

"You know that doesn't rule this Itachi out as the Kyuubi Killer either, it's a shame we can't bring him in or put him on surveillance..." Yamato was back to typing as he spoke.

"And why can't we do any of that?" Kakashi asked going suddenly still, and while Sakura could choose to believe that he was just doing as he was told, she knew Kakashi would never behave himself so well. Which meant something else entirely, he was on to something... And Sakura caught up instantly.

"I only promised to stay away from _Sasuke _Uchiha."

"Precisely..." Kakashi's working eye was locked onto hers, she was up close and personal trying to fix the bandage he had tampered with. It was strange to see how his entire countenance changed when he was having a break through, she could feel that energy coming from him, she could see it in his other eye. "One of the first things we should do is get a surveillance detail on him, we need to know everywhere he goes, what he eats for breakfast, who he is in contact with..."

"Itachi led us to this Orochimaru, the original killer, he has to know something."

"Right, here are the original case files in order, the majority of the information is sealed but if I bypass the security any further than this we're going to set off alarm bells."

Yamato turned the laptop to Kakashi, before he could reach for it Sakura grabbed his wrist to check his pulse, the frustrated grunt he made was probably more pleasing to her ears than it should be. He was able to manage scrolling with his other hand.

"This guy was prolific, even more so than the Knife Man, don't you think Kakashi?"

He didn't answer and Sakura wasn't sure if she was just imagining the slight tremor of his hand, the fluttering of his pulse. When he winced ever so slightly she determined that it was not her projecting, Kakashi was in pain and trying to hide it.

"Even down to the dates..." Kakashi cleared his throat but Sakura continued to check his vitals undeterred. "These all line up with victims of the Kyuubi Killer exactly, some of these names are familiar too. How did we not know that this guy existed? They made a goddamn task force to catch a copycat killer without even telling us there was an original." The anger in his voice was palpable but Sakura knew it had nothing to do with her tending to his bandages.

"Hiruzen Saratobi had all details sealed, not only was his son one of the victims, but this Orochimaru was the kind to... well, he was doing it for the glory, he wanted people to know that he was capable of, what he was doing. So the Chief took that satisfaction away from him. I can see why he did it, it's a fitting punishment for the creep, taking away the very thing he sought notoriety for..."

"Yeah but at what cost?" Kakashi spat back at Yamato, turning his head so quickly that Sakura was concerned the glue holding his face together would crack. "How many people have to die before he decides we're allowed to know the details? This could have been prevented, all of it, Hiruzen may have made the right decision at the time but we're continually suffering for it..."

"Kakashi." Sakura put her palm to his forehead, it wasn't an accurate method to check a patient's temperature, but she wanted to pull him out of this spiral before he hurt himself and thought the gentle contact would suffice. "You can't change the past, let's just look out for each other and try to figure out where he'll strike next."

"We won't have to look far..." Kakashi's voice was low and soft, it held terrifying undertones that was magnified by the look in his eye.

"What do you mean?"

"Look at this..."

The cursor on the laptop was hovering over a name directly under that of Shisui Uchiha and for a moment Sakura wasn't sure if she was imagining what she was seeing. She leaned towards the screen and the closer she got the more familiar the words became the more fear began to claw at her heart.

"Captain Tobirama Senju..." Yamato said the name slowly and with reverence. "I remember him, wasn't he killed in the line of duty protecting a precinct from a pipe bomb?"

"According to this the explosion didn't kill him, he was just incapacitated which allowed Orochimaru to get to him, his remains were found... in the basement of the 7th precinct a day later... Kakashi, that's our precinct, that means..."

"The next target is Captain Tsunade Senju." There was a moment's pause before Kakashi stood abruptly, "We need to warn her, we need to warn everyone..."

This was when the effects of the blood loss, dehydration and the hangover of adrenaline finally kicked in. Kakashi was only standing for a few seconds before the dizziness forced him back into the chair, Sakura was holding onto his arm for good measure.

"Hatake, calm down, we have time."

"No we don't, according to this timeline we have 7 days, and that's not accounting for the pattern we disrupted, who knows what could happen next..."

"There is time, Kakashi." Sakura put a hand to his shoulder. "You're unable to think about this logically because you are in pain. You need to rest. We can't just bring this to Tsunade without a substantial argument, she's pissed at the two of us and would have us both suspended in an instant..."

"Not to mention what would happen to my federal access..." Yamato spoke up.

"All we can do now is get you better, build a case to bring to Tsunade, investigate the leads we have already. We need to be smart about this, not rash. You're always running in head first and we can't afford for you to get hurt again, alright?"

She'd tried to appeal to the logical part of his mind but she was starting to wonder if he was too exhausted and traumatized to recognize reality.

"You can't expect me to sit here and do nothing..."

"You're not doing nothing, you're recovering. Do you really think Tsunade will even pick up a call from either of us after today? I know her, give her time to cool off and sort out the fallout and she'll be thinking clearer too. Trust me..."

Something unspoken passed between them, something deeper than words can express. It went without saying that they trusted each other but it was more than that. Sakura had just gotten him back from the clutches of the Akatsuki, and while she cared and worried for her aunt, she was not about to let her partner walk back into the fire. Yamato broke the silence.

"I can't speak up without revealing your information source, I know it's a matter of grave importance but if we notify Tsunade now we will lose access to the information. And we need these facts to build a case and work out who this bastard is, once and for all..." Yamato's phone buzzed in his hand, he checked the screen without unlocking it. "My absence has been noticed, I need to get back to the lab."

When Yamato stood and made a grab to shut the laptop screen Kakashi stopped him with just one gesture.

"Leave it."

"That's not a good idea... but I guess I won't try to stop you. There's a time out if you leave it idle, and once you're out there's no way to get back in unless I'm here."

"You're not staying for pizza?" Sakura asked unsure, she didn't really want to have any leftovers contaminating her refrigerator.

"As much as I would love to bare witness to your torturing Kakashi into submission while I eat, my available time has run out."

"Yamato is a hot commodity, Haruno..." Kakashi smirked with his reply, but it was short, and the way his head dropped back revealed the exhaustion behind it.

"Rest up, Detective Hatake." Yamato smiled in a soft way before his eyes snapped to Sakura in an unnerving way. "Sakura, a private word..."

Though she didn't want to leave Kakashi on his own for long there was no way she could refuse the man who had just given his all to help her and her partner. They congregated by the door while Kakashi put a hand to his forehead and closed his visible eye.

"What's up?"

"Watch him like a hawk." Yamato enunciated each word. "I've seen him do this before, after Obito, he's waiting for you to drop your guard and then he's going to make a run for it to work behind your back."

"Don't underestimate me, Yamato. I know my partner, I can handle this"

"I know you can." His eyes narrowed towards Kakashi. "But he can't, not anymore, Sakura. I hope you realize that."

Sakura unlocked the door and watched Yamato leave before she put the dead bolts back. By the time she turned around to face Kakashi he was leaning forward and hovering over the laptop screen again. There may not be a huge risk in him pottering around while he sat there but she knew this was a slippery slope into overdoing it. A few hours ago he'd been chained to that pipe and bleeding profusely, he needed to rest and she would force him if she had to. Sakura left him there and retreated to the kitchen for the moment, lulling him into a false sense of security before she returned.

"Here."

"What is this... a glass of milk? Am I that pathetic I need to be treated like a toddler."

"No, jackass, it's time for your pain relief and you haven't eaten. So you need an extra coating for your stomach."

"I don't want it."

Kakashi tried to wave her off and continue scrolling through the case details.

"Well if you're not going to have milk at least have tea or something with it, otherwise you'll damage the lining of your stomach and it won't absorb properly..."

"I don't want anything, Haruno. Pain relief is just going to make me even more fuzzy and I have work to do."

Something began to bubble in Sakura's chest, it had started as a tepid annoyance and general discomfort from her pounding head, but now it was at a boiling point of rage. There was no way she would put up with this kind of behavior from a patient, and perhaps she would use more tact and professionalism in that situation. As it stood this was Kakashi Hatake, her partner and her responsibility. The thumping pain in her head pushed her next movements, storming around to force herself between the laptop and Kakashi's chair. Looking him dead in the eye she slammed the lid down.

"What makes you think you have any options, Hatake."

"Don't... just don't, if this screen goes idle then we'll have to wait for Yamato to be free again to log back in..."

"Consider yourself lucky that I haven't taken the damn thing off you." She leaned closer. "Take the medicine and I might let you get back to it. The more time you waste the more likely it is to time out..."

"Why does it feel like I've been taken hostage again..."

Sakura held up the glass for him to take, he reached for it at a glacial pace while maintaining eye contact. As soon as it was safely in his hand she withdrew the bottle of pain relief from her pocket. She'd checked the dosages before they'd left the hospital so she didn't bother reading it again, she just took out two pills and held her hand out for Kakashi to take them. He stalled and the last of her patience dissipated.

"So help me, Kakashi, I will shove these down your throat if that's what it takes. Don't think I'm above using force for an unruly patient."

"Fine."

Without breaking that unsettling eye contact he took the pills from the palm of her hand, threw them in his mouth and downed the entire glass of milk. It felt like a stand off and for some reason even after he'd done as she'd asked she was still simmering with rage.

"Open your mouth."

"Seriously, you're going to go that far..."

"Lift up your tongue too, jackass."

Kakashi complied but the look in his eye was enough to terrify small children and animals. As he leaned forward ever so slightly Sakura grabbed his chin and took a proper look inside his mouth. Some of the worst patients she'd had were known to hide their medication in their cheeks or under their tongues, and she wouldn't put Kakashi past it. It would take approximately 10 to 20 minutes for the pain relief to kick in, and in that time she needed to check his temperature again and make sure the wound hadn't reopened.

"Can I get back to work now? Or did you want to explore my mouth a little further."

"You can get back to it as soon as I've taken your temperature and checked the wound. Your face was sliced open, Kakashi."

He sighed and appeared to shake the irritation from his shoulders physically.

"You're right... I just..."

"You're in pain, people don't act like themselves when they're in pain. Just let me help, I don't want to have to handcuff you to the bed..."

"Yamato tell you that story, huh."

"No he didn't, Tsunade did, and I'm not sure I want to hear any specific details to be honest."

He smiled, it was the first smile she had seen in a little while, maybe the pain was subsiding already. Sakura took extra care with taking his temperature, she then took his blood pressure properly before making certain the stitches and glue were holding.

"Do you think I'll lose sight in that eye?"

She was so close to his face when he spoke, she could hear the hushed worried timbre of his voice that he had done well to hide until now.

"It is hard to tell at this point, you can't open it until that wound has started to heal, what was it like before it got stitched? Could you see?"

"All I could see was blood."

There was a pause, Sakura remembering just how close she had come to losing her partner, frustration aside she should be grateful to have him at all. She had been sitting on the chair that Yamato had vacated, but shifted it around to tend to Kakashi's eye. They were sitting close to one another, so close that she could feel his warmth, so close that she could count the individual lashes of his working eye. She tried her darnedest to concentrate on the task at hand, maybe her motives had originally been to distract him long enough for the meds to kick in and stop him from working... but now the lines were blurred. Or perhaps his exhaustion was just contagious and had spread to her through the contact alone.

Even she couldn't tell how much time had passed in silence while she tended to his eye. By the time she was finished she had slowed herself, her fingers drifting from making sure the bandages were on firmly enough to simply caressing the lines on his face. Things she'd never noticed before but now that they were close she could see clearly, details that she would have never known if she hadn't gotten to that pipe in time.

"Sakura..."

Kakashi's voice was steady and unwavering, but his working eye was half lidded and dropping with tiredness. The pills had finally kicked in.

"Yes, Kakashi..."

There was something written on his face, something dark and urgent that Sakura didn't recognize until he spoke. She was glad that the pain was ebbing finally and he seemed to be getting some relief, her hand continued to caress along his cheek. His breathing was warm and steady as it fanned across her face. They had moved even closer to each other but she couldn't have told you when it had happened.

"Sakura, I don't... I don't think I can wait to go undercover again to kiss you.. It's all I can think about right now..."

The revelation didn't shock her as much as it should, purely because she had been thinking similarly, she could practically taste his lips being this close to him. That kiss in the alleyway had been fraught with panic and adrenaline, she couldn't help but wonder if it would be the same right here, right now. Maybe it would help them both overcome what had happened in the last 24 hours.

"Why wait then..."

They both drew involuntary breaths, they both began to close the remaining inch of space between them. It was madness but it would have been like trying to stop a solar eclipse, just as they weren't responsible for the lunar event they could not control or push aside the force that was bringing them together.

Until a sharp rapping on the door startled them both apart.

"That'll be the pizza..." She cleared her throat sheepishly and stood. Kakashi's expression hadn't changed, he was watching her like she was the only thing he ever wanted to see and it tugged at her heart.

"Go get it then... I'm starving."

Sakura was unwilling to break her eye contact with Kakashi but finally relented to get to the door. Maybe it was a good thing they had been interrupted, what kind of doctor would make out with their patient after all… Sakura knew that it was a good thing, they had almost done something very stupid…

_But gods it would be so satisfying._

All of Sakura's thoughts were shattered when she opened that door, her smile broken to pieces on the floor. She'd expected a pizza delivery kid, she had not expected to find Captain Tsunade Senju on the other side. Looking every bit as furious and deadly as the last time they had spoken.

"Sakura, you going to invite me in or leave me standing out in the hall?"

"Oh, yes, sorry Ma'am, please come in."

"No need to put on airs, Sakura, I'm the one intruding into your own home. But imagine my surprise when I called into the hospital to check on my best detective, to find that he'd discharged himself against doctors orders, and into the care of his private physician no less." Her voice wasn't tinged with that malicious boom that usually accompanied her bad moods so Sakura figured they weren't in any _more _trouble at least. "I'm even more surprised to find that you two aren't working on the case behind my back, though you look in no fit state to even be sitting at the moment, Hatake."

"He's just taken pain relief Ma'am, I'm waiting on some food to be delivered before I administer the antibiotics."

"I see. It only takes one kiss in an alleyway before you're playing private nurse for Hatake."

The rage in Sakura's chest was quelled by the guilt of what would have happened if the Captain hadn't interrupted them. At least that anxious feeling allowed her a few moments to think on her words before she reacted. Sakura had a fragile reputation with the Konoha PD, and this was potentially damning, career ending if she wasn't careful… or worse. It could spell the end of their partnership.

"We were undercover, Captain, it meant nothing."

"I know, I know, Sakura. I'm just messing with you, you're still a rookie detective after all." Tsunade averted her gaze and Kakashi tried to stand.

"You're not here just to check up on your favorite detective… are you…"

"Astute as always, even when you're drugged up to your eyeballs. How much did you give him, Sakura? He can barely stand…" Kakashi made a futile attempt to wave the women off, but they managed to coax him onto the sofa, as if to make sure he didn't try to go anywhere Pakkun immediately moved to his master's lap. Tsunade sighed and for some reason it made Sakura feel apprehensive as hell. "There's no use beating around the bush about it, I'm here because of an unsettling phone call I received from the former Chief of Detectives, Hiruzen Sarutobi."

Sakura tried to catch Kakashi's gaze but his one working eye was focussed intently on Tsunade.

"Let me guess, you've finally caught on now and want to apologize to Sakura for treating her like shit." Kakashi usually pulled punches around Tsunade but the pain medication must have bolstered his confidence.

"How I treat my detective is none of your damn business, Hatake. She went into a highly dangerous situation with no back up, completely ignoring protocol, with no one even knowing where she was. Not only that, she got her hands on classified information and god knows how… I stand by my word, she needed to be reprimanded for her actions."

"It is my damn business and you know it. You don't call someone out in public, Tsunade, let alone a goddamn hospital they used to work in..."

"Just calm down, the both of you." Sakura wanted this to stop now before it escalated any further. "I'm a big girl I can deal with the consequences of my actions, more importantly, what did Hiruzen have to say? Did he confirm our copycat theory?"

The question seemed to interrupt the Mexican standoff between the two of them.

"He not only confirmed it, he seems to suspect who the next target of the Kyuubi Killer may be, but you two already know that, don't you?" Tsunade didn't wait for an answer, Kakashi and Sakura exchanged a quick glance. "I have never been more disappointed in my entire career. Hiruzen, Chief Sarutobi, he was my mentor. The very idea that he sealed those records and didn't think of even telling me."

"I can see why he did it." Sakura had found her voice. "This guy got off on the infamy, Hirzuen was taking away the only thing of any value to Orochimaru. Not to mention his own son was a victim."

"You make a logical argument there, Sakura, and I can see why he did it as well. But answer me this, why did he choose to cover for Orochimaru all this time, I had asked for Hiruzen's help to catch the Kyuubi Killer before and given him the files after Obito was killed… Why did he choose to keep that information to himself? We could have potentially caught this psycho…"

"His reasons are inconsequential." Kakashi sounded matter-of-fact despite looking very limp while draped over the sofa. "He made a tough call at the time, while I don't condone his secrecy at least we now know more than we did before. What's important is that we protect you… Captain. I also have concerns that they may come for Sakura at some point."

Tsunade's attention snapped to him but Sakura wasn't overly phased for the moment. Not until she heard the reasons why.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, we know that the next victim in the order was a Captain, and a Senju no less…."

"My uncle… yes."

"Well, you're Sakura's aunt. That doesn't rule her out as a potential next victim. On top of that they spoke at length during my captivity about what they were planning to do to her. It might have just been to goad me but we can't be certain. You both need 24 hour security detail, it would be safer to leave Konoha all together but I doubt you'll listen to reason." Kakashi tried to straighten himself into a sitting position but it was short lived. "Jesus, Sakura, is the room meant to be spinning?"

Rolling her eyes she approached him and pushed him gently to lie down on the cushions. He gave no resistance which meant that the sedatives were in full force now.

"Just lie down until the pizza gets here, Jackass. What do you think, Captain? Having extra security detailing us could not only hamper the investigation, but it exposes the both of us to more people, more potential for someone in the Akatsuki employ to get to us."

"We'll take extra precautions. Work in pairs at all times. The Akatsuki seem to wait until someone is alone before striking, so we'll make it harder for them, and limit our exposure. What's most concerning at this moment is the possibility of a mole within the Konoha PD, within our very precinct."

"That reminds me, Ma'am, what happened with the raids?"

"We found evidence of criminal activity, nothing substantial, and no explosives."

"Kakashi, you said-" Sakura turned to question him, but he had finally succumbed, his hair sticking out at that unruly angle even as he slept. "He heard them talking about explosives, the next victim of Orochimaru was incapacitated by a bomb before his death. Do you think they are preparing for the copycat kill?" She reached under the sofa for the wicker basket that contained the fluffy blankets, casually grabbing one and carefully flicking it over Kakashi. Pakkun obliging her by shifting himself until she was finished in her task.

"Who knows, it's certainly a possibility. If you were both of sound mind I would send you to the Suna border to check for potential smuggling reports that haven't been sent through to Konoha PD yet."

Sakura knew her Captain was talking and she should be paying attention, but since tucking that blanket around her peacefully sleeping partner he was all her eyes wanted to look at and they were acting of their own accord.

"There's always tomorrow…" The words were laced with a positivity and relief that was only felt because of the presence of Kakashi and Pakkun on her couch. Safe and where she could look after them.


	25. Chapter 25

It wasn't unusual for Kakashi Hatake to spend an entire car journey in silence, especially the longer ones. He was perfectly content to simply look out the windows and observe the scenery in quiet contemplation, happily lost in thought. It was, however, completely out of the ordinary for Kakashi to reserve his curmudgeon-like comments to himself for the entire three hour car ride to the Suna border.

It had been a trying week to say the least. His eye had been poked and prodded at regular intervals by every goddamn doctor and nurse in Konoha. His boundaries and personal space had been invaded every single day since his return, and while he knew it was out of safety and concern, it was wearing him down considerably. Kakashi was used to being alone after all, for large portions of the day anyway, so to go from that to not being alone for even one moment... well, it was a lot to deal with. On top of this he still hadn't technically been cleared for active duty with this patch across his eye. The Konoha PD had refused to reinstate his marksman status until the wound was completely healed, they hadn't even cleared him to drive police property. So here he sat in the passenger's seat of his own sedan, spending the three hour car ride to the Suna border with Sakura in silence.

She had given him some jobs to do out of pity while she drove, he felt more like a personal secretary than a detective, making phone calls to try and hunt down Hiruzen Sarutobi. None of his contact details were correct and no one seemed to know where he had gone, Tsunade included. The man had dropped a veritable bomb of information onto the Captain and then disappeared like a fart in the wind. Kakashi had questions for him so he wasn't going to stop even if he hated playing phone hockey with various departments within the Konoha PD.

It all added to the bad mood he currently found himself in but what made it boil over was the downright chirpiness that was behind the wheel. Sakura had been humming to herself, tapping the steering wheel occasionally in some misguided rhythm, even talking to herself. She could have been talking to Kakashi but he was too salty to pay any attention to what she'd said.

By the time they reached the Suna border Kakashi was already on the precipice of a full meltdown.

"Just let me do the talking..." He quipped as he slammed the door shut.

"If that's what you want, I'm not going to embarrass you or anything."

"That may be true, but you're doing all the driving and this is meant to be 50/50, so I'll take it from here."

There wasn't any real need to be so short with her, Sakura hadn't expressly done anything wrong other than try and keep him alive and out of pain all week. But the frustration at the limitations of his own body, and everything the Konoha PD had to say about it, well it was hard not to lash out. At least that's what Kakashi had to keep telling himself, because the truth was more hurtful and embarrassing than he wanted to admit.

Attempts at getting information from the Suna border patrol had fallen on deaf ears. The Konoha offices of the border had been cooperative and fine, but they just didn't have any of the information they needed. Only the Suna patrol had the access to any data regarding shipments that had attempted to cross the border within the last week. And as usual all attempts to gain access to it remotely was met with steadfast refusal. The attitude was very much, if you want it, come all the way down here to get it. It had taken some pushing but finally Tsunade had acquiesced to allowing them both to go directly to the Suna border control to get the answers.

The heat outside of the car was the disgusting kind, like when you're trapped in direct sunlight and can't take off your jacket. The dusty haze of Suna was flickering in the distance, Kakashi didn't see any appeal to living in such warmth year round, but he would always be biased towards Konoha and her temperate climate.

Kakashi didn't give Sakura a second glance on their way to the office, he had a singular goal in mind and didn't want any kind of distraction. He was very aware of the unfamiliar weapon at his hip. He should have been happy just to have something to defend himself with, but he wanted a standard issue pistol, not some gaudy thing that Sakura kept in her bedside drawer.

The only thing this place had going for it was that there were no queues in the office, no people at all really, which meant there would be no excuse for them not to talk. It took an acceptable thirty seconds for someone to ask if they were being attended to.

"We're Detectives Hatake and Haruno, Konoha PD, we're looking-"

"Let me guess, you're looking for someone to do your jobs for you, _detective." _An official looking officer appeared from a side door behind the desk, his arms crossed, his skin kissed by the Suna sun. He was definitely not from Konoha. "You're the ones who keep ringing the offices here like you got nothing better to do."

"Let me guess, you're Officer Baki, the supervisor who wouldn't speak to us on the phone."

"That is correct. Maybe you aren't entirely as stupid as you look."

Kakashi knew he needed to keep his cool to get the information that they sorely needed, he knew that the only way was to be civil, but his words were edged with bitterness.

"Listen, I get it, you have no reason to help us and probably the only joy you get in this sham assignment is making it difficult for big wig detectives who try to tell you how to do your job. It's fine. But we need that list and I'm not leaving here without it. I've got the formal requisition forms for the digital copies..."

"And for that to be approved we need the signatures of both supervisors on sight as well as a witness, and like you were told over the phone, the other supervisor isn't back until next week."

"That's true, but I also have the request forms for hard copies, and seeing as we're on sight we only need the signature of the officer on duty, I have the information exchange requisition signed by our captain right here." Kakashi pulled the neatly folded papers from his jacket pocket and the look on Officer Baki's face was worth the extra work he had to put in this morning.

His pleasure was short lived, Sakura's voice reached his ears.

"Kakashi, you can't just bypass the issue, this officer could get in trouble for compliance failure or worse... I'm not sure the captain would want us causing an incident with the Suna border..."

"No, he's right." Baki took the paper greedily with a snide smile. "Policy is full of shit, but if you're desperate enough to want the hard copies, I can't refuse a written request handed in person. Just who are you guys after anyway?"

"The Akatsuki." Kakashi ignored the look of shock on Sakura's face, the expression would normally have brought him some enjoyment, but he just wanted the pace picked up so he could get the hell out of here.

"You really think I'm just gonna let the Akatsuki smuggle anything across my border patrol? You've got to be kidding." Despite the bite to his tone, Baki didn't look up from the paper in front of him.

"No one said that you let them smuggle anything. The only lead we're following is that explosives were picked up at the Suna border. It doesn't mean that they originated from Suna at all, but we need to rule out the possibility. We would also like to know if there are any shipments that you've turned away in the last week."

Baki seemed to be mulling over the request at hand, he held up a single finger before retreating back to his office, he returned with a ledger which he threw onto the desk.

"I can photocopy these pages for you, but you know that we aren't the only office, there's a larger one on the main highway."

"We already got their information..." Kakashi wasn't hiding the annoyance now that it appeared as if he would get what they came for. "There was nothing out of the ordinary so this was our next logical conclusion."

"Sorry to disappoint you, detective, but there isn't much here to show for the last week. Just the usual small haulage, most of it was empty vehicles, Suna gets most of its produce from Konoha after all..." Just when it seemed that Baki was done with the pages, he tapped his finger on one entry. "There was one mildly suspicious entry, but I checked the cargo myself."

"What day?" Sakura asked, Kakashi had almost forgotten that she was here.

"Friday, a week today."

"That fits the timeline." Sakura seemed to be trying to get Kakashi's attention but he was focused on one thing and one thing only.

"What was it for?"

"Red Sand Toy Company..." Baki turned the ledger around for Kakashi to take a look. "It was a heavy tonnage vehicle, which isn't common at our outpost, but not unheard of. It was a pain to check, but there were just toys in the cargo and nothing out of the ordinary."

"The Akatsuki have been known to use legitimate businesses and their products to shift drugs and money. So anything is fair game. What do you think, Kakashi?" Sakura was looking over his shoulder at the page and it did little to quell his surging irritation.

"I think we need to do our job and investigate, Haruno. Let's just get a copy of this page back to the precinct and work from there."

Kakashi waited in stoic silence while Baki followed through with their request. Sakura made small talk with both the officer and the clerk at the desk but Kakshi was listening to none of it. The quicker they got back on the road the faster they could look into this lead. It still may come to nothing so time was of the essence, they were on a countdown after all, there were only two days left until the date of Orochimaru's next victim.

Walking back out into the heat and back to the sedan, Kakashi could feel the anger and tension he was holding, but he wouldn't be able to relax until they were back on the road.

"I thought I said let me do the talking, did you have to make chatter with them, Haruno? We're on a timer here."

"I just didn't want them too pissed off in the likely scenario that we have to come back for more information. There's nothing wrong with being friendly, Hatake."

He didn't bother answering, he probably slammed the passenger's side door a little harder than necessary too, but he just didn't care. He would be content if they said no words to each other for the three hour ride back as well, and he was fully prepared to keep his mouth shut until Sakura began attaching something to the dashboard.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"You said we're in a hurry, so we'll use the GPS and take the shortcut through Tenchi Bridge. It'll only take a minute to set up and plug in."

"We don't need GPS, where do you think you'll plug that into? This isn't exactly a modern car, Haruno."

"It goes into the lighter, here see." Sakura busied herself with the cable and removed the lighter from it's spot.

Kakashi raised a skeptical brow, he knew this was a bad idea but couldn't be bothered wasting any more time arguing about it. He knew where they were going, they didn't need any technology just to get home, he knew the back roads of Konoha better than the backs of his hands. If he were in a better mood he might've opened his mouth and told her so. But he couldn't trust himself right now not to say the wrong thing, as pissed off as he was, he didn't particularly want to take it out on her more than he had to. Besides, once it was said it couldn't be taken back. So silence would suffice for now.

The sedan was hotter than the bowels of hell and it took longer than usual for the air conditioning to kick in. Kakashi guessed it had something to do with Sakura's stupid device taking up all the battery strength. Not that he knew how cars worked specifically, but it couldn't be a coincidence. It had never taken this long before and the only differing variable was the GPS. He knew that car better than she did, but he didn't bother opening his mouth, silence was still the better option.

They had been on the road for an hour and thankfully Sakura didn't resume her drum solo on the steering wheel, she also kept her humming to a minimum. Kakashi decided it was time again to start trying to get in touch with the elusive Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"I'm phoning in to the precinct to see if Gai has had any luck with Chief Hiruzen."

"Attach it to the dash."

"I don't need to do the hands free thing, I'm not driving remember."

"Yeah but if you take a second to work out how to use it then next time you drive by yourself you can have it all set up and ready to go, and I won't have to wait for you to call me back."

"You know what... never mind." Kakashi hit the Bluetooth button on the dash and on his phone. "Fine."

He spat the word with bitterness under his breath and it was as if the utterance had sparked the universe to conspire against him in a kind of cruel magical spell. It took forever for the line to connect to the speakers and even longer for Kakashi to be able to reach Gai's direct line at the precinct.

"Kakashi! Where are you? There's...here... waiting to..."

"Gai, you're cutting out, the reception here is terrible. Have you had any luck with Hiruzen?"

"This connection is b... where... you?"

"Haruno wanted to take a shortcut." Kakashi found himself yelling as if that would improve the connection. "Have you made contact with Hiruzen?"

There was harsh static before the line cut out to dial tone.

"We're not so far out that we would lose cell phone reception, what the hell is going on?" Kakashi was speaking to himself more than to Sakura as he furiously swiped at his cellphone. "Is this GPS messing with the signal..."

"It shouldn't be, that's not how those things work y'know..."

"Well I'm failing to see what else would be causing it, Haruno."

"Maybe because your phone is as out of date as this rust bucket sedan..."

"Excuse me? There's nothing wrong with using what works perfectly fine, it doesn't have to be the latest model of everything to be useful. And you do know that it's 100 along here, right? Pick up the pace we're on a deadline."

"I would if this hunk of metal would go any faster, my foot is flat on the floor, Hatake. It's not going any faster..."

Kakashi watched helpless as everything around him gradually lost power. It started with the phone, then the GPS, the radio, the air con and finally the whole dash decided to shut down. It would have been comical if he weren't so pissed off at the world and everything in it, the way the car slowed down to a snail's pace before coming to a dead stop at the side of the road.

"Batteries dead I think..." Sakura mumbled into the ensuing quiet.

"No shit, Sherlock." Kakashi felt the anger propel him from the seat and out of the sedan, he yanked open the driver's side door and flipped the switches for both the trunk and the bonnet.

"What are you going to do?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm going to build a flux capacitor and travel back in time to stop you from taking this damned shortcut."

"Hey, you're the one who was in such a goddamn hurry, excuse me for wanting to know where we were going..."

Kakashi muttered to himself as he scoured the trunk for the jump starter he thought was hiding somewhere in the mess. Only to find that half of it had been cleaned out, and he had a funny feeling he knew who was behind it.

"What did you do with the jump starter, Haruno? Blue box, cables on it, important."

He could hear her muffled swears before she even exited the vehicle, but she never directly told him off for anything, and for some reason that was more maddening than her messing with the sedan.

"Right here, look. I put all the tools in a box to the side..."

Kakashi yanked it out before she even finished the sentence and tipped its contents back into the trunk of the sedan. He would have argued that it was simply the fastest way to find what he was looking for, but Sakura wasn't biting despite his blatant act of defiance. Maybe he was just trying to goad her, or punish her for messing up his entire week, maybe he wanted her to argue back for once so that they could move past this. It's what Obito would have done.

The jumper leads were harder to attach than he remembered but he managed. Disappointment just seemed to be following him on his heels, no matter how many times he turned the switch there was no power to the unit, the battery to the jump starter needed to be charged and they were fresh out of power.

They would have to wait here like sitting ducks in the disappearing sunlight on a deserted stretch of road that no one in their right mind would use.

As if the heavens were watching him and waiting for an opportunity to make everything just a little bit worse, the sky rolled with thunder and the sky opened up. An immediate downpour targeted at Kakashi Hatake's head as he slammed the bonnet and rounded to the trunk. Rain meant he would be stuck in the shitty sedan with Sakura until help found them, or the Akatsuki, whoever was first.

"Great, this is just... fucking great." Kakashi all but threw himself into the passenger's seat, his shirt and pants soaked and clinging to him. "I knew that stupid thing would drain the battery..."

"Then why didn't you say anything?" Sakura was finally biting back.

"So, this is my fault now is it? Of course it is. Why would I bother saying anything, you would have done it regardless. Let's just drop it." Kakashi tried to temper his own rising anger.

"Look, there will be a patrol unit out here soon, they always drive by this way during the night and I'm sure Gai will be out here himself looking if we're not back soon."

"Great, so we'll just sit here and wait for the Akatsuki to find us in the darkness." Kakashi reached for his phone on the dash, only to watch it light up with a low battery signal and turn off. It was the cherry on top of the terrible shitty week he'd had and suddenly the anger could not be contained. "If it weren't for your shitty hands free rule I might have had enough battery left to signal the patrol units. Next time we're doing things my way."

"The dangerous way? The way that gets you hurt or kidnapped or blown up?" Sakura took a deep breath before she spoke again. "Look, we're both tired and hungry, I knew this was going to be a long trip so I packed some food. Will you at least eat?"

She was already climbing over into the back seat, Kakashi rolled his eyes, trust Haruno to pack food. The rage that was building plateaued at the prospect of food, which led Kakashi to believe that she was probably right, maybe he was just hungry. But when he got a good look at the container of salad she had grabbed from the back seat the anger was reignited.

"Salad? Seriously, you brought salad of all things..."

"Just eat some, Hatake. It's good for you."

"I don't give a fuck if it's good for me, I don't want it."

"Your eating habits are shocking and we're stuck here with nothing else. I know you're going through grease withdrawal or whatever but you need to take care of your body..."

"Would you stop trying to make me a better person already?" Kakashi was loud, even over the patter of rain on the roof, it echoed in his ears and rung with regret that he should have just kept his mouth shut.

"You think that's what I'm trying to do? Change you? Well, I've got news for you, Kakashi. The only thing I'm trying to do is keep you alive. I need you alive. If we're ever going to catch these bastards I need you to be here with me."

"Well, maybe you should stop trying so hard."

The floodgates had been opened. Sakura threw the container of greenery into the backseat and faced him with seriousness.

"Okay, spit it out. What's your problem?"

"I'm not the one with the problem..."

"No, you're a jerk, but right now you're being pathetic. Just come out with it already."

"Why do you even care if I'm just a pathetic jerk? Newsflash, Haruno, I've always been a jerk. I'm trash and that isn't going to change anytime soon, just stop trying..."

"I care because like it or not, you're my partner. You're the person I want to be my partner, and when I want something I work hard to get it." Sakura's eyes shone with a determination that was emphasized by a bolt of lightning in the distance. The silence was as heavy around them as the rain, Kakashi kept his one working eye on hers, locked in a stare but unable to speak. As usual Sakura seemed to know exactly where to push to get him to talk. "So, are you going to tell me what the matter is? Or do I have to pummel it out of you... You've been a jerk for days now and I know we're in close quarters for safety reasons, but you've never been this way before, not with me."

"It doesn't matter." Kakashi felt the compound guilt for his stupid actions all at once and wished he'd never let emotion get the better of him. "Let's just drop it."

"Cut the crap, it obviously does matter or you wouldn't be acting out. Tell me."

"No, Haruno. I don't have to tell you everything..." Kakashi looked away and out into the distance, raking a hand across his face as if to hide the sudden emotion he didn't want to give away.

"Yes, yes you do. Jackass. Partners, remember? Something has your panties in a twist and I can't help you if you don't tell me..."

"It doesn't pertain to the case, it isn't important." He tried to enunciate each word in a mock Tsunade impersonation, maybe in the hopes that she would actually listen and drop it. But he'd forgotten just who he was dealing with.

"Ha! But you admit _it _is something. Caught you in a lie, Hatake..."

"It's nothing..."

"No, it isn't or you wouldn't be acting like this Kakashi, we've been over this now we're going round in circles. Stop trying to confuse me and own up..."

It could not be contained any longer.

"You hurt my feelings."

There was shocked silence as the words came from his lips, they put a halt on everything, the argument and the turbulent weather outside. Kakashi was now meeting her eyes and could see that fire die down and turn to concern in a way which always made him feel pathetic. It was the exact reason he hadn't wanted to bring this up, why he hadn't wanted to tell her at all. If he were a better man, a stronger man, he could have just moved past this on his own and been professional about it. But she just had to pull the truth out of him.

"Wha... when?"

"When you told Tsunade that what happened... between us, that kiss that meant _nothing _to you. It hurt." His sentences were as disjointed as his thoughts. He shouldn't be saying this, any of it, but now it wouldn't stop. "It didn't mean 'nothing' to me, it made me... feel something I didn't think I was capable of anymore... I dunno. Like I said, it doesn't matter. It's my own stupid feelings that got hurt and I'll have to deal with that. I'm just not happy about it, but I'll deal, we still have to work together. We're partners but I need to remember that we don't have to share everything, even feelings. Anyway, sorry for bringing it up... being a jerk."

Words failed him now that everything was laid out in the open for her to pick apart. All at once it felt as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders and a pair of fighting eels had entered his stomach. He didn't expect Sakura to say anything, he couldn't even bring himself to look at her face after that unsettling confession. Here he was, bitching to his partner about his feelings being hurt when they had a serial killer and a criminal organization to take down. Innocent people were being targeted. He really was pathetic now but it had been eating at him since he'd heard her say that it was nothing.

"That's... what you're upset about? Kakashi, I only said that it meant nothing because we were speaking to our Captain, our superior officer..."

"It doesn't matter."

"Stop saying that it doesn't matter when it clearly does."

"Yeah, and I'll deal with it on my own. You can't fix everything about me, Haruno..."

"For fucks sake, Kakashi!"

It happened so fast he couldn't remember seeing anything but he did feel the tug of his jacket, yanking him toward the driver's seat across the middle console. And then all he felt was the soft, moist lips of Sakura's on his own. It caused such a shock that the injured eye beneath the patch opened just a fraction. His other could see in full detail just how close she was, gripping onto him as if he were anchoring her to the Earth, he could see her eyes closed in concentration. Her lips, her tongue, coaxed him to reciprocating. He couldn't have stopped himself even if he'd wanted to. It was breathless, it was urgent and needy, a kiss without any false pretenses and Kakashi didn't want it to ever stop even as his lungs ached for air.

Everything began to spill out of him, the anger, the guilt, the frustration. And with the absence of those horrible emotions he was left with an unbridled need to be closer to her.

Without breaking the passionate battle of lips and tongue, Kakashi found his hands roaming in kind, pulling Sakura towards him until she surprised him one step further... launching herself gracefully over the cup holder to deposit herself on his lap. For a frantic moment Kakashi thought that no more talking would take place before clothing would be shed, and he didn't really care.

But as all kisses do, even the urgent ones, it petered out with the need for air. Kakashi's eye lazily opened to find Sakura straddling him, her eyes clouded with hazy lust, her hands tangled in his hair. Kakashi's drifted up slowly to mirror her action.

"Well, I've found... one way to shut you up…"

"So it would seem..."

Testing the waters, Kakashi leaned forward to brush their lips together again, the sharp intake of breath from Sakura that accompanied the action made him want to deepen it just to see what other sounds he could elicit from her. But Sakura wanted to talk, she pulled back her head just slightly, with their bodies pressed together this way it was hard for Kakashi to keep his focus. When she spoke, however, the words seemed to pull him out of that daze.

"It didn't.. mean nothing to me. I felt it too. I just didn't want to tell Tsunade that before I told you... and then you were drugged... and in pain. I had to wonder if it was just because of the adrenaline or the meds.. And I'm so bad at talking about feelings..."

Kakashi dropped a hand to her chin, lifting her face towards his so that she could feel the words as well as hear them.

"You're all I can think about... always."

Her whole body softened into his.

"Me too... I mean, about you..." She smiled just a fraction and it spread to his own features. "I feel the same."

Here they were, trapped in the shitty sedan in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of a homicide investigation... gently touching each other with caresses and kisses. They had both acknowledged the truth. That there was something here between them that sparked and would not sit quietly now that it had been ignited. But it was the next part that terrified Kakashi more than he cared to admit.

"What now?"

He should have known that she would have an answer for this question. Sakura seemed to have all the answers whenever he needed them, she always knew what to say, even if he didn't always want to hear it.

"Well, it seems we're stuck out here for... a while..." Between each pause she peppered a kiss on his nose or cheek before drifting to his neck. The sensation stoked a deep grunt from his throat. "I can think of a few things... we could do..."

It took every ounce of restraint in his body to direct her attention away from undoing the buttons of his shirt, and he couldn't stop the soft grinding of her body into his... he just needed to get this out now before it tainted anything else.

"Not about this... about... us..."

Sakura smiled again, but this one was less mischievous and lustful, and much more familiar to him.

"I'm not sure, Kakashi, we don't even know what this is... but there's no hurry, right?"

"Right." He couldn't help but inhale deeply the scent of her hair. It was as if he were suddenly self aware after a month of being in the dark, and now he knew exactly why that smell drove him wild. "We've still got a case to solve... we can take it easy..." He followed her lead, kissing along her neck, marveling at the way her breath caught in her throat. "And when it's done maybe we could go out sometime... There's this little place at the docks I've been dying to show you..."

The words cut through some of the lustful fugue and she laughed.

"The docks, really? I can't think of a less romantic place in all of Konoha..."

"Trust me, Sakura, you're going to want to see this..." Kakashi felt his smirk widen, but the sudden look in her eyes wiped it clean.

"I do, I do trust you..."

This time she pushed her lips onto his with that same urgency as before. It was heady, it was all consuming, it was everything Kakashi could do to focus. It was as if all that existed was the heat from her body and his, the pleasant vibrations of where they touched, the taste of her lips and tongue that coursed pleasure through the rest of his body. Kakashi understood what Sakura was trying to do, she was trying to put her feelings into action, trying to convey everything she couldn't through a physical act. It was a very Sakura thing to do, something she did with her work, it followed that she would do the same here and now.

They had spoken briefly of taking it slow, whatever this new and exciting thing was between them, and Kakashi wanted to honor that. But he also wanted to rip every shred of clothing from her body and taste what had been kept from his touch. The soft grinding in his lap was no longer soft, it was needy and delicious and not enough all at once, his body reacted to it without his express permission. That aching hardness was soon too prominent to ignore, and it seemed that Sakura had no intention to leave it be, the way she undulated her hips against him.

Kakashi winced into the kiss trying to curb the primal urges that Sakura was inciting within him. It would be too easy, too tempting to give into it right here. There was a rhythm to this madness and fireworks that he only recognized when his hands came to stop on the curve of her ass. Gripping tightly he tried to guide her movements and exert some control over the situation, but it was too pleasurable to put a stop to, he reveled in the feeling of her under his fingertips.

He had never experienced a kiss like this before, not with this intensity and fire. Kakashi didn't think it could be any sweeter until he felt those trembling fingers of Sakura's snake their way up his chest, fumbling with the buttons of his shirt and hungrily trying to remove his jacket. A burning heat that took over his entire body prompted his next course of action.

"Wait…" He mumbled to her lips, removing his hands from their new favorite place.

Without another word he dropped his arm to the side of the seat, finding the lever and pulling it in one fell swoop so the back of it dropped down. Sakura made a delectable yelping noise at the sudden movement, Kakashi took this opportunity and moment of surprise to get the upper hand, pulling her to him tightly and flipping her back against the seat. Overtop of her now he admired the view, puckered lips, dishevelled hair, it was every bit as satisfying as he imagined it would be. His quiet contemplation was cut short. Sakura was moving, gripping his shirt and pulling him down onto her.

"Sakura, you need to calm down…" he whispered deliberately into the sensitive skin of her neck.

"Stop… talking…" She panted while wrapping her legs around his waist. "Take your clothes off already."

"Who said…" Kakashi began to kiss further down her neck, tasting the exposed skin before popping a button of her shirt to continue his trail, "anything…about me putting out… before the first date, Haruno." The groan that drifted from her lips as she arched her back would forever be burnt into his memory as his favorite sound. "There are… other things… we could do, in the meantime…"

"Like what?"

Kakashi chanced a glance up at her face, biting her bottom lip like that to goad him, he was sure. But it wasn't going to work this time, his left a trail of kisses back up her neck and to her lips, he was going to take control of this situation before it got out of hand.

"Eat salad…"

The words were whispered in her ear as if he were making some salacious demand of her and not a stupid joke. Sakura's whole body tensed beneath him for just a second before he heard the sound of her laughter in his ear, it was a sweet sound, and one that quelled the raging need to devour her entire body.

This time they regarded each other more softly, her fingers tracing over the covered scar on his face, gently rising to stroke his hair. They were still pressed against each other and it would take no small force of nature to pry them apart. But Kakashi didn't want his first time with her to be in the back of the shitty sedan on the side of the road, as much as he wanted to ravage her until she screamed his name, he wanted it to be on his time.

"When I do put out, it's not going to be in the front seat of some shitty sedan…" Kakashi pecked her lips softly, tilting his weight to the side so that they could face each other. She was so beautiful but he would never be able to describe coherently to her just how exquisite she really was, in every way.

"What about in the _back_seat of a shitty sedan?" Sakura practically giggled into his neck.

"Don't tempt me, Haruno…" It was true, he was sorely tempted but he needed to keep his cool in case he scared her off. It was just something he wasn't willing to risk. He cupped her face so that her eyes were on his. "You're worth more than a romp in a backseat… and when I fuck your brains out, I want to take my time with you…"

"We better hurry up and catch this psycho then." Sakura whispered before bridging that gap again.

Kissing her was certainly a novelty that would probably never wear off, it felt as if they were breaking some kind of taboo, trespassing into the forbidden realms of partnership. But for the first time in years, Kakashi felt as if he had stumbled into the right place at the right time, with the right person.


	26. Chapter 26

Sitting in the back of a police cruiser on the way to the precinct, Sakura felt every bit as giddy and churlish as a high schooler who had just been caught making out with a college freshman in the parking lot. Not that she had any experience when it came to that particular scenario, she had always been the girl on the tattling-to-authority end, back in the day. Being on the other side of it as an adult she could finally see the appeal in the rush of endorphins that accompanied it.

Izumo and Kotetsu had arrived shortly after Sakura had realized that her own cell phone was fully functional. They had both been so caught up in the veritable powder keg of emotions that neither of them had thought logically. The cell service was shit and they'd still had to wait an hour to be found in the dark side roads of the Konoha outskirts.

If the two constables had noticed anything different about the detectives they had said nothing. They might have managed one or two well timed quips at Kakashi's expense about getting lost in the middle of nowhere, he only needed to remind them once that it had been Sakura's bright idea to take the shortcut, the two were silenced. It was reassuring to know that the terrifying reputation she had been trying to cultivate remained unchanged with her peers. In all honesty everything else felt different to her and she'd worried that they would be able to see it written across her face.

Her body felt foreign and unrecognizable, her feelings, the way she perceived the world and its colors. She had been so drawn in to that moment of passion that when she had come out of it the whole world had changed.

This had happened before. She was no stranger to the chemicals and hormones that took over before sense and responsibility could kick in. But usually the targets of her desire in those alcohol induced endeavors were nothing more than strangers. Not her partner and certainly not someone she would then be forced to work closely with for the foreseeable future. After Sasuke she'd made a rule to never date a colleague, it had been too messy, and while she could claim that it had only been messy because Sasuke had direct involvement in the murders of his parents, it had still been an effective rule to abide by until now.

Were they even dating though? The perimeters weren't exactly defined at the moment. They'd only kissed twice, and one of those kisses had been under duress, there had been no feeling behind it...

_There you go again, denial, Haruno._

That voice of reason was clearly Tsunade and her brutally honest tone when telling Sakura what she needed to hear rather than what she wanted to hear. She glanced over to Kakashi, he was comfortably leaning on the door and watching as the scenery went by. She couldn't see his working eye so it was harder to gauge exactly what he was thinking. There was no way she was willing to hurt him again in any way, shape or form. He had been right, that kiss had changed something between them, and they needed to help each other to find out exactly what it was. After all, it could still be simple hormones, a byproduct of working so closely together for so long and in high pressure situations...

_You worked as a surgeon for years and managed to control your urges to pin down and dry hump a coworker..._

Tsunade had never been one to beat around the bush. She was right. The only conclusion Sakura could draw from this whole thing for now was that whatever was transpiring between her and Kakashi, it meant something more to the both of them, and maybe more than they were willing to confront just now. It would be best to tread lightly.

With a sigh, Sakura watched the mass of buildings of Konoha's city centre come into view. If Izumo and Kotetsu had been talking during the drive she hadn't heard a word of it. It appeared as if Kakashi's ability to tune everybody out was catching. But it was time to come back to reality. It was time to face the music and get back to work... even if she was itching to reach out and touch the man beside her. Sakura's gaze invariably drifted to Kakashi again, lingering over the exposed skin of his neck and down his arms, the way his fingers splayed onto the seat in a way that caused her pulse to race more than it probably should. Tentatively she extended her own to brush against the side of his fingers. They were sitting far enough not to arouse suspicion from the officers in front and weren't directly holding hands as it were... but the temptation was too much to resist. The way he imperceptibly reacted to her touch was enough to satisfy for the moment.

_Get back to work, Haruno. _

With her aunt's voice echoed through her mind, Sakura finally broke the bubble of silence that had befallen the back seat.

"The Captain won't be impressed with us I imagine. How badly should we guard our loins ya think?" She directed the question to Kakashi but loud enough for the other two to hear.

"In my experience, it's best to go full body armor in these situations, Haruno, not just the loins. How bad is the damage, fellas?"

Izumo and Kotetsu exchanged a glance, it was only for a fraction of a second, but they both caught it. As a detective there is a certain feeling one gets when information is being withheld by a suspect or witness, Sakura had experienced it a few times over the last month, the sense was growing in strength with every day on the job. Right now it was ominous and tense, confirmed when Kotetsu turned his head to face her.

"Suppose you haven't heard..." His tone did nothing to quell the apprehensive feeling in the car.

"Heard what?" The question shot out of her mouth like a bullet and she waited for the impact spatter.

"Well, when your call came through, we assumed it had gone to Tsunade first before we were dispatched..."

"You better start making sense real fast before I have you both written up for failing to follow orders..." Kakashi was leaning forward now and his hand was no longer close to hers, despite the unsettling gurgle of her stomach she tried to keep her cool and help Kakashi maintain his. She put a hand to his shoulder, it stopped his words and when his face turned towards hers there was a panic in his eye that she recognized from the time he'd shielded her from that explosion.

"Calm down, Jackass..." The last word was mumbled but not enough to be incoherent. "Genma had to put the order through, that was all, no one can get through to Tsunade's line and her door is locked. She's just busy with something, alright?"

"Yeah, paranoid much?" Izumo pitched in from the driver's seat and Sakura rolled her eyes, they had forgotten who they were dealing with, but would be reminded soon enough.

"Watch your tone when you're speaking to a superior officer. Need I remind you of the fact we are taking on a serial killer and a criminal organization, my partner has been kidnapped and we were almost blown to pieces last week, haven't we earned the right to be a little paranoid? You two will be lucky if I don't make a formal complaint to Tsunade myself..."

"Sakura." Kakashi's firm hand appeared on her forearm. "It's alright, I'm a paranoid jackass, you know this. Tsunade only locks her door when she has important meetings like the Commissioner or Mayor, who is she talking to?"

"No one knows." Kotetsu turned his head back to the road as he spoke. "Whatever it is has to be important because she's been holed up in there for hours."

"Kakashi, I don't like this."

"Something isn't sitting right for sure, just keep calm, Sakura. We don't have all the information yet and there's no use worrying about something before we have all the facts. There will be plenty of time for that later."

"Funny, Tsunade said the same thing to me when you went missing, and if I'd listened to her you would still be chained to that pipe." She hadn't meant it to sound so bitter, but fear has a way of leaching out and lashing out onto those closest, whether its intended or could apologize later, for now he was right, they needed more information and it was all she could do. "What's happening with the surveillance detail on Itachi Uchiha? Have they reported back yet?"

This time the look exchanged between Izumo and Kotetsu was not something so minor as to deign a figment of the imagination.

"Well, there's the rub."

Kakashi seemed to lose his remaining patience at the same time as Sakura.

"Stop fucking around, what's going on?"

"We were ordered not to tell you, Detective Hatake."

"By who?"

"Detective Gai. He said that he wanted you to have a clear head when you got to the precinct, and ordered us not to tell you that the surveillance detail was unable to locate Itachi Uchiha."

"They lost… one of our lead suspects… our main link to the Akatsuki and the Kyuubi killer… son of a fucking-"

"I can neither confirm or deny, sir. I was just stating my orders as requested."

Sakura had heard rumors about the inefficiency of Izumo and Kotetsu, how much they lacked in intelligence when it came to standard procedure. But after hearing that statement she had a new found respect for them. They knew how to dance around the rules and when so that they could have the information they desired. It didn't soften the blow of it, but it definitely was something she took note of, for the moment there were bigger problems at hand.

Chief of which was the way Kakashi clenched his fists so hard they began to shake on the seat beside her. If they had been alone, she might have gently placed a hand on top of his just to ease the anger, if it had been any other situation or case she might have paused for thought to ease his mind. But right now the anger from Kakashi was seeping onto her, the fear, the memory of the Uchiha in her apartment… But it wasn't her safety that she was concerned for at the moment.

"We need to get to Tsunade, fast."

Sakura was certain she wouldn't have been able to sit still if she tried, so she switched from nervously scrolling through messages on her phone to obsessively checking her weapon. There was no inclination as to what they were walking into but she would be prepared for the worst case scenario. Tsunade was the next victim on the list, they were certain of it, and she wasn't picking up the phone. On top of that one of their main suspects was unaccounted for. It all added up to one big pond of anxiety. When the precinct came into sight she'd opened the door before the car had stopped moving completely, Kakashi right at her side. Unwilling to wait for the elevator, the pair of them took the stairs, leaving officers Izumo and Kotetsu in the dust.

_Now you know it's serious, Hatake is taking the stairs..._

"Shut up..."

"Pardon?"

Sakura hadn't realized that the thought had escaped her lips.

"Oh, nothing, sorry. Just talking to myself..."

She didn't pause to gauge his express reaction, there was no time to indulge in that right now, especially considering she could hear the din of the bullpen from the stairwell. It almost made her miss the usual Tsunade boom that kept everything running in perfect order.

"Tsunade can't be anywhere on this floor with that noise, she'd have put a stop to that immediately." Kakashi wasn't out of breath despite the three flights of stairs they had just climbed, he seemed to be just as ready for action as she was, the way he stood with more energy than she'd seen in him since the kidnapping.

"That's exactly what I was thinking."

"One time when Genma's headphones were too loud, she came out of her office, ripped them off his head and crushed them with her bare hands."

"I can believe it..."

Kakashi was trying to ease the atmosphere with humor but it wasn't what Sakura needed right now. All she wanted was information about her aunt's safety. The noise of the bullpen didn't damper even when she slammed the door opening from the stairwell landing. Officers, uniformed and plain clothes, detectives and every other rank were running amok. Phones were ringing and unattended to, perps were handcuffed to desks instead of waiting in the hold, the shouting...

Something came over Sakura in that instant, perhaps it had to do with a lifetime of Tsunade's influence, perhaps it was simply the crushing pressure of the situation at hand. An entire medical career being told to keep quiet, ignored or made fun of for what she believed. She snapped spectacularly.

The harsh whistle was something she would never be able to replicate with the same ear splitting penetration. It had the desired effect, the entire floor hushed into silence and turned towards her.

"Listen up, and listen good because I will not be repeating myself." She spoke as she walked into the center of the bullpen, Genma opened his mouth to speak but she beat him to it. "If I hear one word out of your mouth Shiranui, remember I know how to make it hurt _and _look like an accident. Just because Tsunade isn't here doesn't give anyone licence to slack off. Get back to work and f_ast, _because when she comes back and sees this mess I doubt she'll be as forgiving as I am." There was no chatter but the sound of quiet shuffling as people went about their business. Sakura took the opportunity to make her first rounds. "Gai, what the fuck were you thinking with that order?"

"I was trying to stop you from reacting exactly the way you're reacting right now! We need level heads, we have no information to go on, there's no reason to be..."

"Wipe your mouth, you're dribbling shit, Detective. How about you cut the crap and get these perps into holding before I lock you in there myself. Genma, bring up Tsunade's calendar, I want to know who she last spoke to and when. Hatake, can you..."

"On it."

The lack of hesitancy made her blink a few times in bewilderment, he hadn't even needed her to finish the sentence, he stepped quickly towards the closed door of the Captain's office. The blinds were down, the door was locked, they had absolutely no vantage point. But that was about to change.

"You do realize if she's in there, Hatake, you're signing your own death warrant?" Detective Ebisu shouted from his corner of the room, Sakura shot him a death glare and he was silenced.

"If she were in there you'd have already been castrated for not doing your goddamn job, pervert. Now get back to it."

Sakura and Kakashi exchanged a look and a nod. In a swift kick action, Hatake had successfully dislodged the lock of the door and it swung open with some force. It was a first for Sakura, she wanted to be wrong so desperately, there was still a slim hope that Tsunade had simply drunken herself into a stupor at her desk and taken a nap. But she could tell from the look on Kakashi's face before she even saw inside the office that it wasn't to be.

The chairs were empty, the lights were on, the window shut. There was no Tsunade in this office. It had been locked from the inside but the usual inhabitant was missing. Sakura felt the same panic rise within her that had been present the day that Kakashi had been taken.

Except today there was one key difference, and he was right beside her.

The bullpen descended into quiet chaos, maybe it was just hushed to Sakura's ears because of the panic setting within herself and the blood pumping in her ears. But there was a deep timbre that calmed the rising fear and simultaneously lit a fire within her.

"Alright, squad. We now have confirmation that Tsunade is missing from her post. Contact was lost approximately three hours ago. Genma, what was her last appointment?"

"She was supposed to have a phone conference with the former Chief of Detectives, Hiruzen Sarutobi..."

"Code silver. Protocol says we send out an APB, we have a missing captain who was the potential next target for the Akatsuki, I want details of everyone she came into contact with this morning. I want to know who had access to her, I want to know what she had for breakfast, you got that?"

"On it." Gai and Genma spoke in unison, other uniformed officers were already on their radios to the other precincts to let them know the situation.

Sakura had an inexplicable sinking feeling that Kakashi was going to leave her out of the action for a fleeting second, but she was forced to meet his eye with two strong hands on her shoulders.

"Sakura, you and I are going to go through the security feed for the bullpen, find out when that door was locked. But I need you to breathe, can you do that for me?"

"Oh, I'm going to do more than just breathe, Hatake. I'm going to catch this bastard and nail him to the wall. Let's go." People seemed to clear the way for them as they marched towards the corridor that lead to the service room for the floor. Each level had one, the departments on each floor were so big it was necessary security. Sakura just hoped this lab tech would be able to get what they needed and quickly, it was usually a hit or a miss when it came to actual knowledge of the systems. Her mind was racing and her thoughts began to tumble from her mouth. "Her last scheduled meeting was a call with Hiruzen Sarutobi, you think he has something to do with this?"

"I've told you before that there are no coincidences in a murder investigation. In any case we need to get in touch with the man himself. I've got questions that need answering."

"What is it?"

"Pardon?"

"You've got that look on your face like you're in pain, but you've taken your medication so I can only assume it's because you're onto something. What is it?"

There wasn't the luxury of time for Kakashi to lazily come to a conclusion like he usually did. They were almost at the service room and it was obvious as the scar on his face that something was bothering him. His whole demeanor had changed, the look in his eye, the deliberate choice of words.

"This whole thing just... it doesn't sit right. A precinct captain taken from her locked office in the middle of the day, the place literally swarming with officers and surveillance equipment."

"You're thinking it's an inside job."

"Possibly. You'll be the first to know once I work it out, unless you beat me to it."

Sakura prided herself on being polite and courteous in most situations, but this was an emergency and all concept of manners went out the window. Without any knocks or announcement she slammed that door open loud enough to make the clerk jump up from his chair. The room had no windows, only a cluttered mass of screens and a dim bulb swaying from the ceiling, it was nothing more than a glorified cupboard in Sakura's eyes.

"Detectives, is it customary to barge in on the service department or do you just not know how to knock respectively?"

She would need to play nice now if they were going to get the information they came for.

"Apologies... Sai..." Sakura squinted her eyes in the light to read the lanyard identification. "This is an emergency, my name is..."

"Oh, there's no need. I know exactly who the both of you are, and I already know what you're here for." The way Sai spoke reminded Sakura of Mizuki just a fraction, as if he were putting on a show for their benefit. "I'm a few steps ahead of you in fact, the paperwork is waiting for you to sign before I can allow you access to the computers software. This may be an emergency but there's still protocol, not that either of you respect that from what I've seen..."

"Listen here, chump..." Sakura rounded on Sai's cold and simpering face but paused when she saw the reaction from Kakashi. He wasn't one to sit idly by and be talked down to by anyone less than his commanding officer. The way his eye bulged, his whole body paused as if he'd stopped breathing altogether. Her suspicions were confirmed when Kakashi turned to face her.

"Steps ahead..." he murmured while searching Sakura's face for recognition, as if she was able to read his very mind.

"Kakashi, come back to me, what is it..."

She watched as he shook his head as if to jolt himself conscious.

"There's something I need to check out."

"What have I told you about rushing into things and thinking later? We need to stick together right now, we've got a code silver emergency here and need to follow procedure..."

"Sakura." Kakashi gripped her shoulders, the firm way he spoke her name with the action gave her a tidbit of safety amongst the chaos. "Do you trust me?"

For the first time since he'd been injured, Sakura sincerely wished she could see both of his eyes in this instance. It felt as if she were only seeing half the picture that he was trying to paint for her. While she was probably better at reading Kakashi Hatake than most people it was still harder than she cared to admit. He had to know what her answer would be after everything they had been through together. Was he looking for something else? Did this mean more to him than before because of that kiss? Without knowing exactly what he wanted from her, Sakura decided to answer in the only way she knew how, honestly.

"With my life."

"Good."

It appeared to be the right answer. Kakashi nodded and was out the door as quickly as they'd barged in. Sakura barely had time to blink before Sai was tapping away at the computer and coughing loudly to get her attention.

"Might I suggest next time, Detective, that you state code silver the moment you enter the room."

"Excuse me?"

"Apologies, was I speaking too fast for you to comprehend? Would you like me to slow it down like your partner did?"

"Just, shut up and bring up the footage of Tsunade's office from today before I pummel you into next week."

"While you were exchanging glances with your friend, I managed to bring up the day's feed on screen two, that's the monitor with the number two written across the top..."

"I can read y'know, Jesus Christ, no wonder they keep you in this little hole. Tsunade was scheduled to have a phone conference a few hours ago, but no one has seen her since this morning. Are you able to..."

"It's not so much a question of my ability, Detective, but your inability to keep up. If you look at the screen I will play Tsunade's day from her arrival at 8am through to now. And before you go complaining, I will speed it up so you can go running off after your partner."

"We only have one camera aimed at her door?"

"Yes, with all the sensitive information that passes the Captain's desk there is no camera on the inside. "

Sakura watched the image on the screen with the time of day stamped in the corner. Her eyes narrowed as soon as the blonde head of Tsunade appeared in the frame. It was hard to rapidly scan everything she was doing when so many people kept coming in and out of her office. Genma, Gai, Ebisu even Shizune made a visit. While she was wondering just how the Captain was able to get anything done with so many interruptions a blur and shadow on the screen made her freeze.

"Pause! Pause it!"

Sai complied instantly and even refrained from taking another dig at her for the moment.

"What is it?"

"This shot has the window sill in frame, if you look through Tsunade's office window, the one facing the bullpen and not through the open door... Can you..." Sai zoomed in the shot before she even asked the question and she almost forgave his earlier impropriety.

"What is that?"

Sakura felt her heart skip a beat.

"It's a barrel of a gun." There was no doubt about it, that fragment of silver frightened Sakura more than any horror film, more than any crime scene. "Slow it down now, that's it..."

"Is that a foot?"

"Coming in the window, yes." The barrel was pointed at Tsunade, Sakura didn't need eyes inside the office to know that was the case. It was hard to see any close detail, only a small portion of the window sill was visible, and the office walls obscured the rest. With a sickening dread she watched helplessly as Tsunade noticed the intruder and reached for her own gun. But then she froze. "Why isn't she doing anything..."

What happened next was a matter of seconds according to the time stamp. First Tsunade is rising from her desk with her arms up in surrender and then a shadow darts across the screen, closing the blinds to the window and blocking Sakura's last view of her aunt before shutting the door and covering that small window too.

"Who is that?"

"How do I fucking know?" Sakura bit back with the rising panic. "You want a medal for asking the obvious questions now. Go back on the tape, get the clearest image of his face that we can get."

"He's wearing a hooded cloak, it's not like..."

"Go. Back. Now. Bring it up on screen or so help me..."

_That's my girl._

The sound of Tsunade's voice in her mind was jarring and almost caused her to shed an involuntary tear. What good was it to make her aunt proud if she was already dead? There wasn't time to be sentimental, there wasn't time to give in to the emotions... there was too much at stake.

"This is the best I can offer you, Detective."

Sai had a grainy and blown up image of the moment the hooded person had closed the blinds to the window that faced out into the bullpen from Tsunade's office. It was almost nothing to go on, only part of a face was even visible underneath the fabric, but there were a few things that Sakura spotted in an instant. She grabbed for the radio at her hip.

"Code silver, confirmed. We are looking for a male suspect, armed with a revolver, approximately 175-177cm's in height with light grey hair and round framed glasses. Suspect may still be in the vicinity, set up a grid search of the surrounding buildings. Sai, get this image printed stat, I want it on every desk in this precinct within the next minute. Kakashi-"

Sakura turned to speak to her partner as though he were there. She had forgotten briefly that he was no longer at her side. The panic and elation mixed together that there was a lead suddenly evaporated into pure unadulterated fear. Where was he? Where had that man taken Tsunade? There was only one way out of that room with the front door locked, and that was the fire escape that they had entered through.

They could be anywhere. Why hadn't she just asked Kakashi where he was going?

_Because you trust him._

Contrary to popular opinion within the precinct, Tsunade's most terrifying timbre was not the one that boomed across the bullpen and down the elevator to the first floor. But the quiet one, the one she reserved for the important things, the one she used before all the shit hit the fan. It had been that tone she'd used the night Sakura had pounded on her front door and begged for help to gain entrance to the academy. And it was that tone now that the Tsunade in her mind spoke to her. This paired with the absence of her partner pushed Sakura to new and disturbing levels of fear.

"Where has that man gone..." She spat bitterly, more to herself than to Sai who was typing maniacally without looking away from the screen, but he answered anyway.

"If you wait a moment, Detective Haruno, I can bring up Hatake's last movements on screen..."

"You've got more important things to be doing right now. I can find him myself."

Sakura stormed out of that closet with the same gusto and purpose that she'd entered with. Eyes peeled as she strode to the bullpen for that mop of silver hair. He wasn't at his desk when it came into view through the bedlam. Tsunade's office was being cordoned off by Genma, everyone else seemed to be huddled around the site in fear. But there was no Kakashi. Not in the kitchen or break room. She'd even pushed into the men's bathroom and scanned the stalls.

She closed her eyes as if to summon some unknown power within herself to find him. But it was all for nought. She couldn't think with all these voices around her, all these questions shouting in her mind, all the chaos that had crashed around her. She wanted to scream, she wanted to shout and beg for Kakashi to come back and support her just like he always did. But even the voice of conscience was silent in all the din.

There is a point where fear is so crippling that it paralyzes a person, it grips them like a vice and forces them to watch the madness unfold around them, helpless. Sakura was no stranger to this fear. The night she had walked into that house, so unassuming, to find the bodies of Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha. The first time a patient died on her table. That fear, back then, had been suffocating and she hadn't been equipped to push it aside.

But today was different.

She had also felt that fear when a bomb had been discovered at their crime scene, and what had she done then? She had defied orders to stay at her partner's side. Sakura had pushed that fear aside when Itachi Uchiha had broken into her apartment. She'd felt it again when Kakashi had gone missing, and again she had overcome, she had pulled him from that pipe beaten and bleeding and gotten him to safety.

_But you always needed help._

The voice of doubt took the form of the bored tone of Sasuke, and she wasn't surprised. But it backfired. Instead of causing her to freeze and give in to the doubt and fear like those around her, it ignited rage. She wasn't going to become Captain if she just stood there panicking. She wasn't going to let Sasuke have the last word again.

"Gai!" She shouted at a decibel louder than Tsunade had ever managed to reach, even after that time Kakashi set fire to the break room. The whole floor silenced and Gai's head appeared above the masses.

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Where. Is. Hatake?" Each word was punctuated loud enough to keep the rest of the room quiet.

"He said something about going downstairs..."

"Where downstairs? Make it quick, Gai, or you'll be sorry you ever switched precincts..."

"I don't know, I swear! He said something about going to the basement..."

Sakura froze, Genma took the opportunity to speak without retribution.

"Don't be an idiot, Gai. There is no basement. It was sealed off and paved over ten years ago after that explosion. There's just storage rooms and garages for the squad cars down there..."

"I'm telling you, he said basement! I looked at him weird but he was jamming that elevator button so hard, he wasn't exactly paying me any attention..."

**"Shut up!" **Sakura barely recognized the voice as her own. "Just shut up..." She needed the quiet, she needed to desperately catch up to Kakashi but he was... "Steps ahead... Fuck..."

Without another word she barreled off towards the stairs, not even bothering to wait for the elevator, it took too long. But maybe that was a good thing, maybe Kakashi had to wait, maybe she wouldn't be so far behind him, maybe there was still time.

_That fool._

He'd tried to get a step ahead of the Akatsuki, he'd gone straight in without even asking for back up. If he wasn't dead already she was going to kill him. Throwing people to the side of the staircase, Sakura was already drawing her weapon by the time she got to the first floor. There was still one more staircase to go, one more corridor, and then god knows where they would be.

_Think, think, use those instincts you were born with..._

Captain Tobirama had been killed after he was injured in diffusing a bomb in what used to be the basement of the 7th precinct. Was that why Tsunade hadn't made a move in her office? Did this psycho have explosives? But that would mean they were a day ahead of schedule... The next murder wasn't due for another day... There was still time.

_Unless..._

The killer knew. The pattern had already been interrupted when she'd saved Kakashi, which meant one thing. The Kyuubi Killer now knew that the Detectives hunting them had information about the original killings, and he was upping his game, he was getting ahead of them. He was changing his MO and becoming more dangerous than ever.

If she wasn't in such a hurry to find her partner, Sakura might have paused to catch her breath, the realization had her almost winded. But there was no time now. Gun raised she went from pillar to pillar in the parking lot, taking cover, examining her surroundings. Did she have time to call for backup or would it give away her position? Was she even in the right place? The lighting here was typically shit, every shadow the fluorescent bulbs cast had her jumping out of her skin. It was what she'd trained for in the academy, it shouldn't be so terrifying, but there were loved ones on the line and that made it all exceptionally frightening.

When she was convinced that she'd covered all the hiding spots within the garage she moved towards the small corridor that held the smaller storage rooms. With each empty doorway she trained with her pistol she felt crushing disappointment.

_Not here. Not here._

There were another five doors to cover when something caught her eye. Lying discarded on the ground was a scrap of white, on closer inspection she determined it was a bandage, and not just any bandage. One that she had dressed Kakashi's wound with recently, she could smell the special tea tree salve that lingered on it as she crouched down.

_Close._

It was like having the answer on the tip of her tongue, like having the last piece of the puzzle hidden by an asshole relative or sibling, a present under the Christmas tree that you couldn't quite work out the contents of. Sakura hated surprises, she hated not knowing, almost as much as Kakashi did. Why would he have run off down here without her, why would he...

The answer was revealed to her when she turned the final corner and was confronted with a sight that only nightmares could rival.

"Sakura, get the hell out..." Kakashi growled from where he stood without even looking at her, his gun out and aimed towards a hooded man in the corner of the room.

Her eyes drifted down to the only other familiar sight in the room, the head of blonde hair, though it was now stained with blood. Tsunade lay on the ground unmoving, the pooling crimson around her body giving no false clues as to the damage that had been caused already. Sakura ignored the rising bile in her throat.

"Ah, finally she's here, now we can start the show." The hooded man dropped the cloth, his hair was white, his glasses were too large for his face. When he pushed them up with a hand Sakura saw what it was attached to. "Oh, this shiny bauble catch your eye? Yes, your Captain here had the same reaction when she saw it. It's certainly finer craftsmanship than one of Deidara's monstrosities. Would you like to hold it, Detective? Shall I just toss it to you and see what happens?"

"Don't!" Kakashi was loud, firm, if he was rattled it wasn't showing. Or at least Sakura didn't have the time to gauge it. "Sakura, run, get out of here!"

"Uh, uh. Not so fast." The man in the glasses held up a gun, pointed it directly at Sakura's chest. "Make one move, either of you, and you'll taste lead. Or I'll blow this whole precinct into the sky, I haven't quite decided which route is more efficient just yet." He rested one foot on Tsunade's head as he spoke. "Now, where were we, Detective Hatake. Ah yes, I was just telling you about how my plan was all going to come together. How your little partner here wouldn't leave it alone and follow after you, just like I had planned. That she would be in such a hurry she wouldn't think to bring back up. And now I have the two of you here, right where I want you, kill three birds with one stone as it were."

When he shook the device in his hand, it was hard for Sakura not to jump. It appeared to be some kind of pipe bomb, but there were tubes and chemicals attached, she had no idea what would set it off. In any case she was preoccupied with getting this psycho away from her aunt, away from her partner. She wished more than anything that Kakashi would meet her eye and then she would know what to do, but right now she was scared to move even just her eyes.

_Think, use those instincts..._

They were Kakashi's words, but in Tsunade's voice, and she knew what to do.

"Why... why are you doing this? Why are you killing good people?" Her voice was foreign, it wavered with adrenaline and fear, it sounded as if she would cry at any moment now.

But it was all an act. Keep him talking, look for an opening, it's what Kakashi would tell her to do.

"I have my own reasons for following in the steps of the great Orochimaru, none of which you'll live long enough to know about, Detective. Or should I say, Doctor?" The melodical chuckle that followed would forever echo in Sakura's nightmares. "People just keep dying around the both of you, don't they? You really make the perfect couple, Deidara's pictures captured that much at least..."

"People keep dying because _you're_ killing them, psycho..."

"Hush, hush. Watch those words now, Hatake. I kill who I'm told to kill. I'm a dealer who stacks the cards so that luck is discarded and the player decides whether to win or lose..."

"I saw, I saw what you did to Obito, what choice did he have?" Kakashi's voice cracked infinitesimally. "What decision did he make to be tied, dissected and bleed to death..."

"You think I would botch a job that badly?" The laugh that followed was cold and mirthless, it dripped with the echoes of leaky pipes and blood. "Please, it wasn't even finished properly."

"So there's more than one of you?" Kakashi sounded calmer now and it seemed to anger their assailant.

"Perhaps I'm just one dealer of many in a grand casino."

While this exchange had been taking place, Sakura had been thinking, plotting. And all at once the final puzzle piece slotted itself in perfectly.

"That voice..." Sakura didn't drop her weapon, didn't move, her eyes stuck on this vile piece of filth standing in front of her. "I know that voice. He's dispatch, Kakashi, he's the mole..."

"And that, is quite enough out of you." His words were punctuated with the cocking of the pistol in his hand. "You've both heard enough, seen enough, it's time for the final hand..."

The moment couldn't have lasted more than a few seconds, in the time it took for the hooded man to drop the hand that was holding the bomb, Sakura finally caught Kakashi's eye. One second was all it took and she knew what to do. Later on she would remember it as time standing still while everything else came together. All she had to do now was act.

The shot echoed so loudly the whole precinct should have been able to hear it, at least that was how it felt to Sakura as time passed by in slow motion. It was the first time she had shot a living, breathing person, and her aim was spot on. They needed this guy alive. They needed to know what he knew. So the first shot she fired was into the arm holding the bomb, which he instantly dropped. She had aimed for the joint so it would be impossible for him to grip anything through the pain.

Kakashi was already moving toward the falling device.

The next part happened too fast for Sakura to catch properly, she lamented that the slow motion could have continued for just a moment longer. The device didn't immediately explode in Kakashi's hands, he curled into a shield around it, to protect them should it decide to go off. By the time the perp was able to think clearly after being shot, Sakura was on him, punching him square in the nose with more force than a freight train.

A noise behind her on the ground dragged her attention from the fight. It started as a splutter and a sigh before it turned into a strangled cry of pain.

"Tsunade!"

Sakura was torn it two, she needed to catch this guy, but she had taken an oath to do no harm. To heal. Her own aunt would bleed to death on the cold ground if she didn't do something about it right now.

In her moment's pause, the psycho had regained his purpose, his gun held high with his other hand and aimed at Sakura's head. And then there was another ring of a shot in her ears, one that startled Sakura so badly she had to check her own body to see if it had pierced through her somewhere. But it hadn't. It had come from the floor. She watched as the man in glasses dropped to the ground in a sickening thud before she turned to find Kakashi shaking, his gun still aimed true at the heart of the man who might have been the Kyuubi Killer. .


	27. Chapter 27

The sky was characteristically grey and somber, the air heavy and threatening rain, it was fitting weather for this miserable plot of earth. Though it was a great juxtaposition to the vibrant and fresh flowers lying on the grave before him, Sakura must have been here already. But Kakashi Hatake wouldn't move from his post, not for another few minutes yet, even if the heaven's opened directly upon his head.

"Sorry I haven't been able to make it here sooner, things have been... well, you know what the precinct is like."

Speaking to tombstones had once been a private solace for Kakashi, a kind of therapy that was the only kind of physical healing he'd allowed himself through the misery. But now it felt different. While he still didn't have the answers he craved, he had been able to garner some small crumbs of peace, and they were enough to sustain him for the moment through the madness. At the same time there were no small measures of guilt laced with the feeling. He had killed a man. He shouldn't be able to recover from it so easily, even if his victim had been directly responsible for the deaths of many, taking a life should never be easy. It was then that the first few patters of rain dropped onto his shoulders.

_If only I'd gotten there sooner._

There was a bitter edge to the thought now because it meant so many different things, not just for Obito's sake. If only he'd been faster, smarter, better. If only he'd been able to get to Tsunade sooner, if only he'd been able to disarm that bomb, detain the perp instead of ending his life... Maybe he would have some of the answers to the many questions that were multiplying by the day.

The sound of an umbrella popping next to him broke the depressing train of thought.

"Thought I'd find you here."

"I'm only ever in three places, Sakura. You know that."

"Four." She interrupted matter-of-factly. "Precinct, here, your place and my place."

"Can't fault that logic." Despite the insinuation Kakashi was still feeling that tugging sadness. "You been visiting the Captain?"

He could tell by the way she was dressed, the way she appeared to be overly professional just for a regular work day, which meant one thing.

"Yeah." Her downcast expression answered his next question before it even escaped his mouth.

"How is she doing?"

"Still comatose. Her lungs are increasing capacity on their own by the day, which is a positive sign, she may be off the ventilators soon."

"Good."

"You really should go see her y'know, she would like that."

There was a time that this closeness would have bothered him, the way Sakura was sidled up against his arm, the pair of them not really fitting under the single umbrella. But instead of irking him it only served to calm the spiral of his thoughts. Sakura always had a way of doing that.

"I've got to give her something else to be mad about when she finally wakes up, gotta get some fun out of it, and I'm sure it's what she would want..."

"She's going to have enough to be cross with you realize..."

"This is the woman who once told Obito that his antics were what kept her young..."

"How drunk was she when she said it?"

"Only a little, right Obito?"

Kakashi wasn't sure why he'd tried to include him in the conversation, maybe it was a long forgotten habit that had suddenly resurfaced on its own, maybe it was just because he was comfortable speaking in front of both of them. Sakura didn't say anything at first and he wondered for a moment if another line had been crossed, but she always had a way of surprising him when he least expected it.

"Does he ever answer you?"

Something about the tone of her voice was more poignant than teasing.

"He used to."

"Not anymore?"

It was that dripping concern in her voice as she looked up at him, she couldn't see his eyes behind the dark glasses he wore, it was just easier to hide the scar and sensitive eye that way.

"Not so much, now that I have you in my ear telling me what to do instead."

Kakashi smiled just a little, only enough for Sakura to know that it wasn't meant as a slight. When her own lips turned a fraction he was satisfied that he was off the hook for the meantime. He wasn't sure when it had happened but Sakura had hooked her arm into his and they both began a slow walk back to the precinct. Or at least he assumed that was where she was leading him.

"Are we safe to talk here?"

Sakura said it quietly when they reached the street, low enough so that she was barely audible over the rain, Kakashi scanned the roads quickly.

"I think so, with the rain it would be harder for any eavesdropping. What have you found?"

"I've been talking with my contact in the Major Crimes Division again..."

"Last I checked you were still a rookie detective in her first year on the job. Tell me how is it that _you _have a contact in Major Crimes?"

"You really wanna know that little detail now? When we finally have a chance in daylight hours to discuss the case that was taken from us?"

"Color me curious..."

Sakura stopped walking, her arm still linked with his, causing him to halt abruptly in his stride. She leaned closer to him and looked around, for dramatic effect more than to check their surroundings he guessed. Looking him square in the eye.

"Let's just say, I'm personally responsible for his vasectomy." She punctuated the fact with a wink and closing of the umbrella with a snap that almost made Kakashi wince.

"Oh, so a former patient then..."

"Never said that..."

She began to walk away and Kakashi had to catch up with a double step and a smile. Sakura always picked up the pace when she was feeling especially smug. He was just glad that the rain had stopped before she delivered the punchline.

"Okay, what could they tell us?"

"We finally have a name for our guy... Kabuto Yakushi."

"For the man that I killed, Sakura. There's no need to beat around the bush with it. Was there any other information to go with the name?"

"Not that I can find through simple background checks. And I don't want to alert anyone else by going into the Root system, Yamato would have a fit as well, he's already pissed that I've 'borrowed' his laptop."

"Just leave Yamato to me, and I'll see what I can dig up today from behind the desk. Lord knows I have nothing better to do." The precinct came into view as if to prove his point. The sight of the building had once been his safe haven, the place he would rather be than in his own home, but in the last few weeks it had morphed into something else entirely.

"Don't be stupid, of course you've got better things to do, Detective- I mean, Captain Hatake..."

"What have I told you about calling me that? Cut it out..."

"Sorry, sir."

"Oh god, that's worse, just stop already. You know I can order you to desk duty for the next month."

"You wouldn't do that to your best detective, would you now?"

"Try me."

There was a heat that seemed to simmer whenever they had one of these exchanges, and Kakashi was acutely aware of it now more than ever. Their time together had been scant since he had been made acting Captain in Tsunade's sudden absence. So now whenever they were alone it ignited that fire. It was getting harder to dampen down while they were at work.

"Well, thank god you're only acting Captain, the whole precinct would turn to shit if we left it to you for any longer."

"Hey now, you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

"No, just assholes in sedans."

There was another one of those heated pauses before Kakashi couldn't hold back the smirk and quiet laughter. Sakura strode off and into the lobby and he followed quietly after her. There had once been a time where all eyes were averted when he walked into this building, no one had wanted to see the pathetic and miserable mess he'd become without Obito at his side, the hushed whispers had followed him all the way to the bullpen for that whole year. But now everything was different and it was bemusing to Kakashi just to watch it unfold before him every morning.

While Tsunade may strike fear in the hearts of all men and women in the precinct, Sakura was just as terrifying and powerful, if not more so. That pink hair and smile was so approachable. People hid from Tsunade when she walked in the door, but Sakura commanded complete and total loyalty without even realizing it, even to those that didn't know her.

The power would probably go to her head just as it had for Tsunade. It was a decidedly bad thing and they were skating on thin ice. But by association suddenly Kakashi also commanded just a little more respect than before. He couldn't help but wonder if it was out of fear for Sakura's wrath, or because they felt sorry for him as her partner, but either way it wasn't so intolerable. Maybe he could curb some of her intimidating aura toward the good of man instead of evil.

For now he would settle for the side benefit of the elevator clearing of people at the sight of his partner. That peace would only last for a fleeting second, he watched disheartened as the doors closed on Sakura's smirking face and his mood dropped. Of course she was going to make him take the stairs.

A hand shot in between the metal doors and Kakashi was reminiscent of the first time he had laid eyes on her.

"Hurry up and get in here old man, you've had enough morning exercise, don't want your heart to give out on the job."

If only he could go back to that day and forewarn himself of the exquisite torture she would subject him to on a daily basis. The saving grace of it all, and Sakura was the only exception, he wouldn't trade a single second of it all. Every teasing jibe, which was sometimes accompanied by something a little more physically painful, just made him more grateful for her appearance in his life. She wasn't Obito, it wasn't right to compare her to him now, she was her own person and thriving in the position. Kakashi couldn't help the building sensation that together they could move mountains.

For now he would have to settle for moving elevators.

"Is that any way to speak to your superior officer, Haruno?"

"Superior in what way exactly? If you can name three things right now I'll be nice to you for a whole day."

The elevator jerked as they reached their floor.

"There's no way you'll get me to walk into such an obvious trap first thing in the morning."

"Your loss."

When the doors opened they were greeted with the usual chaos. Kakashi was early for the morning briefing, only because of Sakura, and while he held none of Tsunade's gravitas he was still going to take charge of the bullpen. With a side glance and an imperceptible nod, Sakura walked past him and quickly to her own desk.

"Alright, squad, briefing room in five minutes..."

"Yes, sir!" Gai appeared enthusiastically from the break room.

"I still don't understand," Genma stood as he spoke, tone ripe with insubordination already. "How is it _you, _of all people, was named acting Captain?"

"Are you doubting my skill set, Shiranui, or do you just need it explained to you multiple times a day so that you can understand it properly?"

"You know exactly what I mean, you sack of..."

Kakashi knew Genma, knew that there was no real animosity to his words or posture, despite how it looked when the man stepped toward him. Perhaps he enjoyed teasing his comrade more than he should, especially now that he was temporarily in charge, but he had to have a little fun with it.

Sakura, however, did not feel similarly.

"Cut it out. Both of you." There was little warning before a hand came up to the side of Kakashi and Genma's heads with a sharp slap. "This _sack _might not look it, but he's the best choice for acting Captain we've got in this whole building."

"How?" Genma pouted while raking a hand through his hair.

"Because he's the only one of us to pass the Lieutenant's exam."

Gai had said the punchline and Kakashi was beginning to regret telling him that detail. As if to make an offering of peace, Gai handed him the thermos in his hand, coffee wouldn't quell the uncomfortable way that the whole bullpen was looking at him now.

"When?"

"None of your business, Genma. Point is, I outrank you, so be in the briefing room in five minutes."

Kakashi had thus far refused to occupy Tsunade's office. It felt too blasphemous, on top of the fact that if he happened to leave something out of place she would have his head on a platter when she came back. But his own desk was too close to the chaos this morning. He had only taken a few strides into the office when he heard the door slam behind him. He didn't need to turn around to know who had shut it.

"Judging by the category 3 slam I would say that you aren't pleased about something, but the windows are still intact so that leads me to believe that I'm not in imminent danger..."

"Why the fuck didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you, what?"

"That you made Lieutenant."

"Ah, that." Kakashi placed the thermos mug onto Tsunade's desk and turned slowly. Sakura was standing out of sight of the window to the bullpen, her arms crossed, practically huffing in anger. It was a fitting display for the room they were in. He tried, and failed, to find an acceptable excuse to give her. "I thought you already knew."

She wasn't buying it.

"Cut the crap, Kakashi. Gai was the only one who knew, apart from the Commissioner. Why are you still paid a third grade Detective's salary? Why is your rank not noted on your files or ID?"

Kakashi could feel her eyes boring into him, he could feel his defenses dropping in that dangerous way they tended to do whenever she was around him and they were alone. As much as he wanted to guard the truth from the rest of the world, he knew that when it came to Sakura, she would eventually get it out of him one way or another. But this time the truth was more shameful than he cared to admit, even to his partner.

"Simple... really, I didn't deserve the rank." He paused and it only served to irritate Sakura further.

"How? You passed the test..."

But then that soft face of hers morphed into that expression pained with concern and it broke down his defenses yet again. With a sigh that could be heard all the way in Suna, Kakashi leaned back against the wooden frame, finding that he couldn't bring himself to even look at Sakura as he spoke.

"I took the Lieutenant's exam two days before Obito's death." Kakashi paused but he wasn't sure if it was voluntary as the emotion clawed up his throat and threatened to spill out. "I didn't receive the results that I'd passed until afterwards, and by then I was consumed with a different kind of drive, rank no longer concerned me. There was no way I could accept that role, not then, not after what had happened. I'm not proud of the way I acted, and I'm no longer going to use his death as an excuse, I'm... ready to accept responsibility. It just took me a little while to get there. "

There was silence, Kakashi had been watching some unremarkable spot on the floor, his eye drifted up to Sakura. He'd expected to find her displeased pout and crossed arms, that way her forehead wrinkled when she was worried or annoyed. But Sakura had always exceeded expectations. Instead he found her studying him as if he were a foreign language she had yet to was no animosity towards it, only intrigue.

"Good." She said finally with subtle tones of caring mixed in with the exasperation. "Briefing room. Five minutes."

It was as if the last part had been added to remind him just who was really in charge and it was all he could do to nod in compliance. He would certainly pay for this later, he could feel it like a storm brewing, but for now there was work to be done and Sakura was ever the consummate professional. Kakashi decided to steal a few moments to himself before he would address the bullpen, just because he had to take his job seriously now didn't mean he needed to be early for a meeting.

He wasn't nervous about the new role he'd been thrust into, it actually felt as if he'd hit the ground running, Tsunade had left detailed instructions as a precaution or for the remote chance she took any vacation days. And, just like any orders from Captain Tsunade, they were exact and easy to follow with no wiggle room. The work was the same as it always had been, there was just more of it as acting Captain. But as he looked around this office from what was usually Tsunade's point of view, he felt more like an imposter than ever. This was where Minato had sat for all those years.

Minato wouldn't be able to recognize the place now, not the room, not the precinct or the city, even Kakashi was changed beyond recognition. Rin might have been able to glimpse some familiarity, she had always seemed to be ahead of her time when she was alive. Obito… well, not much had changed physically since he had last seen the place though it felt completely different.

It was then that a familiar bob of pink hair waltzed into view from the window facing the bullpen. Almost as if it were a reminder about the biggest change that had occurred in the last year. Now, Sakura was here, and Kakashi was acting captain. It wouldn't do to dwell in the past, not when there was still a city to protect and criminals that needed to be brought to justice. And if he didn't get moving soon, on her return, Tsunade would kick his ass all the way back to beat cop before he could blink. She would be coming back, it was never in doubt for Kakashi, he would just have to weather the storm until then in all senses. Solidifying the point, Sakura met his eye, probably feeling the sudden lecherous turn of his thoughts through the glass.

_Patience._

The wait would make it all the more sweeter when they were finally free to give into it. And he wasn't about to let her win this little game of cat and mouse. But right now there was a briefing that needed to happen, there were reports and paperwork that needed to be checked, there were cases waiting to be assigned. It was just lucky that Kakashi was a patient man by nature, for the majority of the time anyway.

Fashionably late by a few minutes he entered the room filled with detectives, officers and clerks. They had been chattering in his absence and didn't stop upon his arrival. Kakashi liked to think it was due to the fact that he hadn't been noticed rather than a lack of respect, though it was wishful thinking on his part.

Somewhere from the side of the room was a loud shush that was so ominous it petrified every person into silence. Kakashi made note that Sakura had inherited her aunt's abilities more than he originally suspected.

"Alright, we have a lot to cover and not a lot of time, so let's do this..."

"Maybe if you'd gotten here on time it wouldn't be-"

"One more word, Shiranui, and you'll be volunteering yourself to clean the evidence room. First on the agenda, we've got a string of store robberies around Konoha Academy, the school has forewarned it's students of the repercussions but they've done little else. I want uniformed officers covering each intersection. Whoever is behind the thefts has gotten bolder and is now carrying a knife..." Kakashi tried to bring a picture up on the big screen behind him and failed, Sakura stood and had it displaying within twenty seconds. "As you can see from this footage our suspect is blonde, shorter than average, mid to late teens..."

"Wonder if she wipes his ass for him as well..."

There was a tittle of laughter, Kakashi assumed it had come from the direction of where Genma was seated but figured he knew better than to insult Sakura Haruno. He was starting to see why Tsunade was always in a bad mood and lashing out at her detectives. Kakashi caught the eye of Gai who indicated silently towards Detective Ebisu.

_Now he should really know better._

"Something to say, Detective Daikoku?" Kakashi watched Ebisu shift quietly at the use of his last name, but the man said nothing. "How are you placed with that strangulation of the Jane Doe in the park?"

Ebisu cleared his throat before he stood.

"No suspects yet and no identity, Lieutenant. But I am trying to locate a local homeless man who inhabits the park, he has a known history with mental illness and is likely behind it..."

Kakashi raised a brow.

"Detective Haruno, are you able to-"

"Already up."

When he turned the crime scene photos from the park were displayed on the monitor. He heard some more sniggering from behind him, but it would soon be silenced. Within a few moments of looking at the pictures, Kakashi felt that all too familiar pull which started with a tingling sensation up the back of his neck.

"You're barking up the wrong tree, Detective." Kakashi challenged, crossing his arms and facing the man. The room went silent again.

"With all due respect, Lieutenant-"

"Beg your pardon, but any self respecting Detective would have noticed the absence of urine around the body and on the victim's clothing. What that tells me, _Detective_, and anyone else who has worked as an investigator or passed basic training for that matter, is that the body was moved after death. This is a body dump, not the actual scene of the crime."

"My apologies, sir."

"I don't need your apologies, I need you to do your job and stop badgering the mentally ill. How about you question the homeless man in the park, like you would any other potential witness, instead of treating him like a subclass citizen. It might be a good start to actually find the identity of your vic instead of going on a witch hunt"

"Yes, sir. On it." Ebisu sat back down dejectedly.

The briefing felt nothing like the ones he'd been forced to sit through during his time as a detective. Usually they dragged, felt pointless, and it was filled with things that he already knew. But from the position behind the podium it was completely different, not only did the time pass quickly, but Kakashi felt as if it were actually useful. Maybe that was because he was more interested in the actual cases than the desk he would be riding for the foreseeable future. After all, anything was better than paperwork.

The day itself was just like the one before it. A haze of bureaucracy, playing phone hockey with various officials, occasionally shouting out the office door for a file. By the time Kakashi looked up from the desk and to the clock on the wall it was dark outside, and yet there was still so much work to do. With a sigh and a stretch he stood, fervently rubbing his scarred eye before closing it. It was still sensitive and not used to staring at a screen and papers all day. It drained him more than he cared to admit. Grabbing his jacket from the back of the chair he decided it was time to call it a day and emerged into the bullpen.

Immediately he noticed the absence of pink. Her desk was clear, her coat gone and a quick scan of the floor told him she was already gone.

"She went home an hour ago, did you need something, sir?"

"No, thank you, Ebisu. I didn't realize you were on night shift, I thought it was rostered to Shiranui..."

"I'm not, sir. I'm just waiting for a psych to interview the next of kin..."

"You found out who she is?"

"Indeed." Ebisu pushed his glasses up the ridge of his nose, out of habit more than necessity, or perhaps he was just nervous. "Dental records matched a missing college student."

"Good work, why are you getting psych in on the next of kin? Have you interviewed them yourself?"

"I have, sir."

"Drop the 'sir' already and get to the goddamn point, Ebisu."

"Sorry si-, sorry. It's the younger sister, seems she found her sister after she'd hung herself in her dorm room but didn't want anyone to know she'd killed herself. The sister was about ready to top herself when I found her to be honest... I wish I'd gotten there sooner."

Kakashi nodded, he could tell that the detective was admitting to his mistakes in his own way, there didn't need to be any more spoken about it. He put a hand on Ebisu's shoulder before he started moving towards the elevator.

"Good work, Detective Haruno might know which facility would be best to get the sister into... I'll consult with her first thing."

With a few nods he was finally able to exit the precinct into the fresh air. Just a few months ago he would have hit the first fast food joint on the street, spent another hour at the cemetery before finally heading back to his dark and empty apartment. But today he got in the sedan and headed straight to the parking lot outside his building, not even stopping for a burger and shake, and when he put his key into the lock he could already see the light shining from the cracks in the door.

"About time you got here, we almost started without you."

Sakura greeted him before he even made an appearance in the living room.

"Yeah, well, the whole precinct falls apart when you're not there. Didn't you know that?"

"Ha ha, very funny. Your dinner is going to get cold so hurry up."

Kakashi changed his shirt in the hallway to his bedroom while continuing the shouting conversation with Sakura. Pakkun barely batted an eye from his bed at the door.

"The fact that it isn't cold already leads me to believe that you _knew _I would be running late anyway, so don't go acting all high and mighty- What the hell is this?" Kakashi was forced to stop mid-rant at the sight of his dinner when he entered the kitchen.

"It's grilled saury and eggplant with miso. You'll like it, trust me."

"If you insist..."

He didn't let on that he would eat anything so long as she was the one who had cooked it. Sakura was definitely the most appetizing sight in the kitchen, but he ate the meal begrudgingly and had to admit that it was tastier than it looked. It might be his new favorite if she let him put salt on it. They ate in relative silence as they usually did, food was more of a necessity formality to what they were actually doing. As soon as they were both done, Kakashi dumped the dishes in the sink to do later and made his way back to the living room with a bit more gusto. Now they could finally get down to business.

"Right, you ready?" Sakura caught his eye with a mischievous glint.

"You know it. Lay it on me."

She had been here setting this up for a while, he could tell by the cleanliness of the wall in front of him, the way she'd shifted the furniture just so. Standing side by side, Sakura tapped away at the tablet in her hands, and the wall before them was brought to life. It was an impressive digital display with every detail of the case in neat tabs and subsections that could be clicked.

"What do you think?" She asked while scrolling through the information for Kakashi to see.

"I think it's a masterpiece compared to the wall of scraps I used to have here. This is nice. Did you do all this yourself?"

"Well, yeah... I borrowed some equipment from our mutual acquaintance, took a while though."

"Ah, what did you bring him? A fern?"

"No, actually, miniature lemon tree." Sakura caught his eye and they both smiled, despite himself Kakashi leaned a little closer to nudge her gently, out of some urge to be close that he didn't have control over. Sakura's smile faded and she looked concerned now. "Do you really think we can do this behind their backs?"

"Are you talking about the case...or something else? Because I do know all the blindspots in Tsunade's office now." Kakashi smirked with the implication as she rolled her eyes. It was rhetorical, they both knew it, and Kakashi also knew that he needed to answer her sincerely. "I've worked behind backs before, unsuccessfully, it's true. But with the two of us on it... Yeah, I think we can do this better than Major Crimes can."

For effect Kakashi touched the back of his hand to Sakura's as it dangled beside her, mingling their fingers together with that same electricity that sparked whenever they touched. His eyes never left hers, he took in the smile on her face with fondness. Until it faded and he felt a sharp rap against his knuckles.

"Whatever you say, _Lieutenant."_

"Here we go. I _knew _you were going to give me shit about that."


	28. Chapter 28

It was a Thursday morning like any other, the briefing room was filled with the stale aroma of coffee and aftershave. Over the course of the last two weeks everything had fallen into a predictable routine for Sakura. The days always started the same, with one of these briefings, in which cases were assigned and issues addressed. After this it would be time to go and do whatever menial case Kakashi had thrown her way. Sometimes it was chasing down witnesses, sometimes it was a literal foot chase of a suspect through the back allies of Konoha. But most of the time he assigned her desk work.

Part of her believed that he just wanted to keep her in the precinct and within his line of sight. At first it was only mildly irritating, the humdrum of busywork that made the days drag on, but after awhile she didn't have the strength to care. Because once her day was done, it was time to go home and begin more work on the Kyuubi killer case.

It was the only meaningful work that she felt like she was able to do, but it was hindered by the lack of resources. Going off the books certainly had more drawbacks than she had expected. It took that long to find a secure network and browser to even search the few leads that were worth following, and by that time it was well into the morning hours. Something that might take ten minutes on the precinct servers took an hour or more, going in circles so that they couldn't be traced.

Essentially, Sakura Haruno was running on very little sleep and a lot of caffeine. It made her reminiscent of her med school days. As soon as her mind started to drift back in time her eyes grew heavier, to stop herself from falling asleep where she sat, Sakura shifted and folded her arms. Maybe if she moved physically it would be enough to keep her awake for the rest of this briefing. Kakashi's dulcet tone was doing little to help the situation.

Her gaze had now shifted from the display board of the weekly crime statistics, vaguely registering Kakashi speaking of increased activity as she briefly appreciated the exposed forearms of her partner as he pointed to something. It prompted her eyes to drift considerably south.

_This is all his fault._

The thought was intrusive despite being correct. Her present distraction had nothing to do with tiredness and everything to do with the tighter than usual pants Kakashi was wearing, and the fact that she still hadn't been able to see what lay beneath. It was pathetic really, they weren't acting on those feelings right now for a reason, there was too much at stake and too much work to do. But it didn't stop her from thinking about what it might be like. If those kisses stolen in the sedan that day were any indication it would be an impressive display, she just had to be patient.

The sound of muffled laughter broke her from her thoughts and pulled her concentration back. People were already standing to leave and Kakashi was gathering papers and handing out files. Had the time really disappeared like that? It was a dangerous habit for a detective to be indulging in daydreams, losing focus on this job could cost dearly.

"Detective Haruno." Kakashi spoke as the other officers began to file out. "A quick word."

She adjusted herself accordingly, sitting more upright and trying to discern if there were any drool remnants on her face.

"Yes, sir."

"What have I told you about the sir... Oh, Genma, let someone else proofread your warrant requests before you send them to Judge Utatane. If I get one more shitty email asking if I'm letting toddlers fill out forms I'll go full Tsunade and things will break."

Shiranui smirked, shifted the toothpick in his mouth before he winked at Sakura and left.

"I hope you swallow that and it perforates your stomach, Shiranui!" The insult she threw out the door at his back was probably childish and beneath her, but these kinds of outbursts gave her amusement enough to stay awake with a brief surge of serotonin.

"It is a disgusting habit." Kakashi agreed as he sat on the edge of the table beside her. They were now alone and Sakura couldn't help but feel like she was about to be reprimanded. "So tell me, is it the sound of my voice or the content alone that's boring you to sleep during my morning briefing?"

"Sorry about that..." she shifted through the muffled apology but Kakashi continued to speak.

"You're lucky I didn't call you out in front of the others and assign you the worst case we've got."

"Somehow I still think I'm going to end up with the worst one, but thanks..."

"What's going on with you?" Kakashi's timbre changed just slightly, Sakura was probably the only one who would notice the way it dropped with concern as he stood and closed the door. "Something happen at the hospital this morning?"

Sakura reached for her phone in her pocket, she hadn't heard from Hinata since last night about Tsunade's condition and she didn't have enough time this morning to physically check her. There were no messages or missed calls so that meant it was unchanged.

"I haven't been to see her yet today, but there's no notifications of change in condition. I barely made it into the precinct on time this morning."

"I noticed." Kakashi checked over his shoulder, the briefing room had many windows facing the bullpen and it wasn't exactly the best place for privacy, he sat on the edge of the table again but this time he was closer to her with his back shielding them from view. "Talk to me, Sakura. Is it too much for you?"

"To what 'it' are you referring?" There was an unnecessary edge of bitterness to her words that she instantly regretted. "It's fine, all of it, I'm just tired."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

She should have known it was a trap.

"Good, because by falling asleep you volunteered yourself for Kiri bridge patrol."

"What?" She didn't care about the volume or tone any longer as she stood. "Kakashi, that's more boring that you and the briefing, if you're trying to keep me awake this isn't the way to do it..."

"Sorry, Sakura, that's the rules. Whoever falls asleep during the morning briefing gets patrol duty. You're lucky it's the bridge to Kiri and not the Suna border, at least you won't overheat... Air con is still broken in the sedan by the way..."

"Just admit it, Hatake." With the use of his last name he met her eye more seriously, keeping his scarred one closed. "You're making me bored on purpose."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Admit it, I've had nothing but boring witness reports all week, the one time I did any actual field work you made Gai tag along with me and he spooked the guy before I could even question him. You're keeping me here on purpose."

"That's ridiculous. You're being ridiculous." Kakashi stood and raked a hand through his hair in frustration.

"What is it? I'm a _detective, _Hatake. My mandatory street time may have been cut because of my qualifications but I've still earnt my place here just like everyone else. So, what the hell is it?" The question was punctuated by her fist on the table as she stood.

"It's nothing, Sakura, just calm down."

"You think that I can't handle myself without you? That it?"

"No." Kakashi spoke louder than she had heard from him in some time, it made her pause and he shifted to stand closer to her. "No, you can handle yourself just fine." This time he spoke softly, just for her ears only, paired with the look in his eye she knew the rest. It was Kakashi who wasn't able to handle it.

"Fine. I'll do the stupid patrol duty. But I'm going alone this time, Gai just makes everything harder."

"Good. And, hey, we'll take tonight off. Alright?"

"You sure? We're getting closer to-"

"That case isn't going anywhere, Sakura. I think we both need a rest tonight, we haven't exactly stopped since..."

"Since you shot a guy and the precinct almost blew up."

"Yeah, that. Nice to see you aren't sugar coating it anymore."

They both smiled just a fraction as the tension began to diffuse. No one had told her that the detective life would be easy, between being a cop and trying to hold onto some small remnant of peace of mind as a human being, all of it was hard. Harder still when there were murderers out there free in the streets of Konoha. Sakura Haruno couldn't afford to hit a brick wall here, she couldn't afford to let these men get the better of her, she was here now and she was going to be the best damn detective Konoha had ever seen. All of this work needed to be faced head on, even the menial parts, it was time to rise up.

There was no way Kakashi could have known the path of her innermost thoughts, but the way he was looking at her seemed to suggest that he knew more than he was letting on. No more words needed to be said. Kakashi always seemed to know how to calm her down without her even realizing it. With a nod, they both made their way to the door back to the bullpen, she enjoyed watching the others scurry away like ants at the sight of her.

"Alright, I'm off to patrol, I'll report back later, Captain."

"What have I told you about using that word, makes me feel a million years old, just cut it out already." Kakashi was walking back towards Tsunade's office but she couldn't pass up an opportunity to insult him after what had just transpired.

"Finally feeling your age then, I'll organize a care home while I'm sitting on my ass for the next eight hours."

He poorly disguised a gesture with his hand, Sakura deciding to reserve her judgement of his childish behavior until another time. First things first: coffee, and then she would head over to the bridge before the Kiri border. It was the work of a beat cop and she knew it, but the kinds of activities that were taking place there called for a more expert pair of eyes. Increased criminal activity in a localized area was always a concern. She made sure her kit included one of the nicer long distance cameras from the tech suite. Just because she was tired didn't mean she wasn't about to do the best damn job she could do.

It was a little silly to be imagining herself calling for backup because she'd arrested more people than she had room in the sedan for, but there was little else to do while she sat there in the driver's seat. So far there was nothing remotely interesting to report, maybe a couple photos of some shady vehicles that were lingering, but the most productive thing she'd been able to do was sterilize the dash with alcohol wipes from her pocket. Officers were required to report in while on these kinds of patrols, either through a log into the online system, or a call through to dispatch. Because Kakashi refused to upgrade the shitty sedan it meant that Sakura had to radio in her position each hour. By the third blast on the walkie she decided it might be time to try and fix the stereo that had failed to work in the entire time she'd been at the precinct.

Ever the professional, Sakura made sure first that there were no potential goings on that required her attention, she moved the sedan and parked it beside the gas station. She would need food shortly anyway. First she tried to tune the stereo to a station, unsuccessfully. It was a system independent from the police frequency and there was no reason for it not to work, unless the electrics were finally giving out on the old girl. Changing the mode of it made the CD icon flash up.

It was plain to see why Kakashi was so precious about this vehicle, it had been Obito's after all, but he was especially obstinate about the stereo. After several frustrating seconds in which another language altogether appeared on the small screen, she finally gave up entirely and laid a firm fist on the keypad. She was rewarded with an odd whirring sound before a click, and then a disc shot out and onto the floor.

"What on earth…"

There were two words written on the disc with black marker pen but it gave no actual insight as to what might be on it.

_**Obito's Mix.**_

Sakura handled in carefully, looking around before she placed it back into the mechanism gently. At first she thought the thing was just completely broken. There was no sound, the ignition was on and the volume was turned all the way up. Turning the ignition off, she admitted defeat and went to get some gas station donuts to sustain the rest of her shift, it was going to be an exceptionally long day.

She wasn't sure what she'd expected of the day, maybe to apprehend some low life scum, maybe to show her fellow officers that she could tough it out just like the rest of them. Bottom line was she still had something to prove. Perhaps she hadn't won with the car stereo but she would win the long game, she would get through this patrol, and the next. She would be the best cop in Konoha. Coming back to the sedan Sakura made sure to check her surroundings again, be thorough, if she switched corners to observe from she would have more success. And she did manage some small success, just not in the right place.

As soon as she turned the key it hit her. First it was a tinkling of something that sounded like a wind chime before it was accompanied by another sound. Glorious string music before a warbling voice burst to life. Sakura grinned, she had done it, she had revived the sedan. It was just a bit of a surprise that Obito appeared to be very much into smooth jazz and crooners.

Instead of spending her shift catching criminals, Sakura felt as though she was getting to know the detective who had once driven this sedan. His effect on Kakashi had been profound, but she knew little else about him. Her own memories of Obito were minuscule compared to the hours he would have spent with Kakashi. But she would never forget that face, that smile, when he had told her that her talents were wasted in medicine. Obito seemed to have a way of making people believe not just his words, but in themselves. She could feel the hopefulness in this music, feel the thought he must have put into compiling these songs together, she had to wonder if he had done it for Kakashi at some point.

The CD played through in its entirety more than once through the rest of Sakura's shift. It certainly had her in a more upbeat mood about the shitty assignment she had been so displeased with this morning. It was the soundtrack that played in her mind when she apprehended a suspicious juvenile who was selling on the street corner. It wasn't anything as malicious as Bijuu, but the kid was still selling prohibited substances, so she called in another car to take the kid back to the station for processing. He was young, too young to be charged with anything, but his parents needed to be found and he didn't want to talk to Sakura.

The sun had set, the streets were now painted orange with street lights and a thin blanket of rain that was persistent enough to be annoying. Her phone lit up as she reached out to touch it on the dash.

"Haruno."

"Relief team is on it's way, you can head home now." Kakashi's voice sounded every bit the bored monotone over the speaker as it did in person.

"Protocol says I should turn in my log book, seeing as this car is so ancient it doesn't have a digital hook up..."

"It can wait until morning, I'll take a cab home, you take the sedan tonight. Also, she's not that ancient, she's younger than the both of us..."

"_She? _You gave your car a gender?"

"Of course, like a fine ship."

"You've got a letter wrong there, Hatake." Sakura heard the huff into the receiver and smiled to herself. "Fine, I'm heading out. It's getting late."

"You sound in a better mood than I expected to find you. Something interesting happen?"

Sakura found herself stalled thinking of an apt reply to the question, because nothing had actually happened, she just felt a little more at peace. Maybe she was recharged, maybe she'd needed that time alone, and maybe Kakashi had known that all along. Perhaps it was Obito's influence. It was all a little too subjective for her to put into words for her partner, so she answered with the truth.

"No, nothing at all."

There was a pause.

"Okay then, color me intrigued. I'll see you bright and early tomorrow."

"Does that mean you'll be on time for once in your life-"

The dial tone kicked in before she got an answer to her glibness. Chuckling quietly to herself Sakura kicked in the ignition and turned towards home. The prospect of a night off was actually starting to sound pretty reasonable, the guilt that laced it had started to ebb. The work wasn't going anywhere and it wasn't going to come easy if she was too exhausted to keep up with it.

The roads at this time of night were usually deserted, especially on weekdays, the weather and bitter cold probably a contributing factor to this. The night air was cool though it wasn't unusual for this time of year, it just seemed icier than normal to Sakura. Maybe she could curl up with a nice cocoa and some soft programming, Lady Katsuyu would probably like the change from grizzly crime scene photos on the screen. Just as she was deciding which mindless show would suit her needs the CD stopped and the police radio chimed in.

"Homicide unit, respond, code 187. Repeat..."

The call out was for her, there was no one else on patrol right now for homicide, Sakura pulled over just as her building came into view.

"Badge no. 12601, homicide unit responding. What's up?"

"This is patrol 56, I was responding to a dispatch, called in a 4-1, flat tire assistance on the highway out by the entrance to Kuro forest. There's no flat here, but there is a dead body. Are you available, Detective?"

Sakura mulled it over as she chewed her lip. She couldn't afford to wait very long and her gut was telling her to take the opportunity to do some real detective work. Her night off to herself would just have to wait.

"I was just heading home but I can be there in 20, tape off the scene."

If she didn't take the call it meant that whoever was on the night shift after her would respond, and who knows how long it would take them to get to the scene. If she got there quicker she could relieve the patrol officer and get the ball rolling a bit faster. Surely Kakashi would have been notified already. Sirens blaring, Sakura turned the sedan and sped into the darkness.

Kuro forest had always been a foreboding presence in Konoha. While she'd been in elementary school the kids had called it the Forest of Death. It was where children were left unwanted to fend for themselves, an old wives tale to scare kids into behaving. As an adult however it still felt eerie, but maybe that was because of the darkness and tall trees, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched from the second the sedan got close to the trees. The scene of the crime was easy to spot, the lights of the patrol car and the tape stuck out like a sore thumb. Before she exited the vehicle she made sure to phone in her location through dispatch and arm herself with the necessary tools and weapons.

It was freezing outside of the car, she could see her breath hanging in the air around her, an officer was waiting for her at the edge of the cordon.

"What have we got?" Sakura questioned before testing her torch and falling into step beside her colleague.

"Responded to a call from Officer Izumo, someone stranded in Kuro Forest with a flat tire, I came out here 20 minutes later to find a dead body. Looks like a hit and run."

Sakura scanned her torch over the dead body of a man as they came to a stand still. The female officer beside her was seasoned enough not to flinch or say a word. Something on the ground ahead of the victim glinted and caught Sakura's eye, she flashed the torch over to see a tire iron laying there before she knelt beside the dead man.

"This is no hit and run."

"Why's that, Detective?"

"Three bullet holes to the chest is what." Being careful about what she touched, Sakura examined the body as closely as she could. The man looked to be in his late 30's or early 40's, well dressed. His own vehicle was behind them. "This was a trap. He was lured to the side of the road, got out to help someone, and was shot three times in the chest at close range. Stippling around the entry wounds on the clothing suggests within two meters of the vic..." She was talking to herself more than to the officer standing behind her. Running herself through what she was seeing just as Kakashi had taught her to do, it was just a lot quieter and easier without his little quips back at her. Straightening herself, she turned her attention to the SUV. "Did you run the plates?"

"Yes, Ma'am. Registered to a Zabuza Momochi. License picture confirms that he's our victim."

"Good, okay, get me contact details for next of kin. I'll phone in forensics to sweep the scene..."

Sakura had been examining a firearm that was sitting in plain sight on the dash of Zabuza's vehicle. She couldn't tell the caliber of the bullet that was inside the man's chest but she was making assumptions on the man's character now. Who needs to carry a gun on their dash? What kind of things was this man into? Donning gloves she examined the wallet that was next to the weapon. Identification for Zabuza Momochi, cash, credit cards. Ruled out robbery.

But there was something else that became much more interesting. A small flyer that was neatly folded into one of the pockets, an advertisement for the Hidden Mist Circus that was in town... with Zabuza's name proudly embossed on the bottom of it.

"I'd heard the Kiri circus was in town...": The officer behind her spoke as she looked over her shoulder. If it were a man, or one of her fellow detectives, Sakura would have bitten her head off. But there was something about this place that made her appreciate the closeness.

"Yeah, it's a pretty popular one from the chatter I hear. Apologies, what's your-"

"Officer Tenten, Ma'am, we've met before..."

"That's right, nice to work with you again, Officer."

Sakura turned and smiled at Tenten, she seemed like one of those overzealous patrol officers who put their heads down and got their work done. Those kinds of people were good to have around. As she was turned, her torch light fell to the roadside and the row of trees, and that was when she saw something that made her whole body charged with electricity.

Just like her own breath was hanging in the cold air, she could see the puffs coming from the trees, and a pair of eyes reflected by the torch.

"Hey! Who's there, show yourself!"

Her words were loud and cut through the night and right to the heart of this person hiding themselves in the darkness. Sakura watched as their breathing hitched before she heard the rustling as they took off.

"Hey! Stop!"

Without any seconds to spare, Sakura withdrew her weapon as she ran full tilt towards the line of trees. It was cold, wet, slippery and unsafe at the speed she was running, but she couldn't stop now, there was someone in her line of sight. A man was running from police just meters from the scene of a homicide, this was her moment, she couldn't let him get away. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness, but it was all black and white, pitch black when the larger trees came up right next to her. It felt like an obstacle course, dodging one trunk as another came up in front of her, but she would not lose sight of this guy.

Her heart was pounding in her ears in time with the crunching underfoot. The panting of her own breath and the man in front of her as she got closer. She could do this, she would do this...

"Freeze!" She shouted with such ferocity that it startled the man and he collided with a large oak tree face first. The crunch of nose against bark was satisfying but it was nothing compared to the sight of his hands slowly rising in the air in defeat. "Now, turn around _slowly…"_

Any and all satisfaction was replaced by utter bewilderment as the perp slowly turned on the spot and she finally got a good look at his face. Those beady eyes, that orange hair spilling onto bulky shoulders. She knew this man.

"It's you…"


	29. Chapter 29

Kakashi had been halfway out the door to the precinct when he'd gotten the call. If it had been a normal day, sometime in the past when he wasn't acting captain, he would have ignored it entirely. It was an unforeseen and damnable circumstance that he would no longer be able to shirk phone calls. He just knew that this good mood he found himself in would change completely once he answered it.

The more details he gleaned, the stronger the charge of anxiety within him grew. It wasn't unusual in itself for a hit and run to occur on that isolated stretch of road, and it certainly wasn't unusual for the outgoing homicide unit to take the call before cover was officially assigned. But Kakashi's teeth clenched a little harder with every sentence spoken by the officer on the other end of the line. It was murder. The victim had been shot three times and left to bleed to death on the concrete. Sakura had made the right decision in responding to the call immediately... but then she had done something so monumentally stupid it was all Kakashi could do not to snap the phone in his trembling hand.

Instead, he hung up without another word, rummaged in his pocket for the keys to Tsunade's car, and left the vicinity with sirens blaring. Using the captain's vehicle was something he had vehemently refused to do until now. He was just a placeholder captain until she got better, someone who just happened to possess the necessary piece of paper and was able to keep things operating. Call it superstitious, but driving the captain's car felt like he was resigning himself to the role on a more permanent basis. Driving this car was like admitting Tsunade wasn't coming back to claim it, and that didn't sit well with Kakashi.

He had always been the one to make fun of the cops with fears of black cats and walking under ladders. Now suddenly here he was barreling towards an unknown situation with an all too familiar feeling of unease. None of this felt right.

His partner had taken off and chased a witness through the woods in the middle of the night-without backup. It didn't matter that he trusted her ability and judgement. It was the unknown variables that she had completely disregarded that was maddening to perp could have had a concealed weapon- the vic was shot after all - she was just too tired to think properly. She needed to be taken off the case and sent home before she got herself hurt, or worse. Suddenly the use of Tsunade's car was not as troubling to him.

For a modern vehicle there was a terrifying lack of buttons on the dash; everything was a shiny touch screen and he had no idea how to operate the thing. It was luck and luck alone that got him to that crime scene without incident, the realization that Tsunade would kill him if anything happened to her car a sickening afterthought.

It was the first crime scene he'd been on while in the Captain's shoes. There was a marked difference in the way the officers treated his entry. Not so long ago he'd have been shrugged off or begrudgingly acknowledged, but now the tape was being lifted for him without so much as a word. A sudden and intrusive thought occurred to him in Obito's timbre, and belatedly Kakashi realized that he only seemed to speak now when Sakura wasn't at his side or in his ear.

_Could get used to this, Bakashi..._

"Don't count on it..."

"Did you say something, sir?"

Kakashi hadn't noticed the nondescript officer falling into step behind him.

"No, it's nothing. Where's Haruno?"

The officer indicated towards the conclave of vehicles that were surrounding the site of the crime. Through the headlights and flashing red and blue he spied her, and it was not what he was expecting. As he marched towards her he slowed as he took in the vision that she was.

Commanding everything and everyone around her with military precision, Sakura had it all under control. Kakashi was equal parts shocked and displaced.

"I don't care if it's the middle of the night-you will get me the next of kin contact details, Officer. We owe it to the dead man's family and there are procedures in place for a reason. Even if you have to wake up a few people to get me the numbers, you _will _get me the numbers.

"Right, where are forensics? I want this whole van taken back to the precinct-this is evidence, don't you even think about complaining or I'll have you on the slab next. Take the photos, call in the tow team, _don't fucking touch anything-"_

He had to blink a few times to reconcile what he was seeing with what he had just heard. Sakura was a pro and Kakashi wasn't exactly certain when it had happened. If he were a more egotistical man he'd claim it as his own success... but he had never been able to conduct a crime scene like the symphony he was bearing witness to. What had he been so worried about?

Before his mind could come up with an answer to his own question Sakura had spotted him, she waved off the officer's surrounding her and beckoned him closer.

"Kakashi, I was just about to call you..."

When she grabbed his arm and started to pull him towards the sedan, his train of thought was lost. He'd intended to tell her off and take her off the case but those intentions were also lost.

"What have we got?"

"Victim is Zabuza Momochi, aged 41, suffered three gunshot wounds to the chest. I have suspicions he was lured to the side of the road. Tire iron was recovered in front of the vic's van, which is parked here." She nodded to the vehicle as they passed it. "Robbery doesn't appear to be the motive, wallet was recovered, and this..."

She paused, pulling an evidence bag from her jacket containing a pistol. Kakashi raised his brows as he took it from her slowly. Was there anything she didn't know?

"Hasn't been..."

"Fired recently? No. Which means this wasn't self defense either. Also found this in the victim's wallet." Sakura handed a flier to Kakashi. "Seems Mr. Momochi was the owner of the Kiri Circus that's in town. Why does a circus owner need to be armed for starters, and how did he get the weapon across the border?"

Kakashi pretended to be interested in what she'd handed him, but what was actually captivating him and holding his attention was Sakura. Watching the way her mind worked, the way she would answer her own questions, without one single shred of doubt. And that was the moment that Kakashi knew for certain that he had underestimated her ability, and it was a mistake that he would never make again.

"What did the witness have to say?" Before he'd even finished the question he could see the sparkle in her eye and the items were snatched from his hands.

"Well, this is the thing." She spoke quietly, digging into his arm again as she dragged him with her. "The guy agreed to talk with me, but only at his cabin. He doesn't want to be kept on the scene. So, I figured I'd wait..."

"Why wait now? You chased him down by yourself, you've got this under control, why would-"

"Kakashi." It was that same no-nonsense tone that silenced everyone around her. "Just wait until you see who it is."

Kakashi had never been a fan of surprises. Or, at least, he wasn't a fan of being on the receiving end of them. Not being in the loop was just a pain. Why she wasn't just coming out with it he didn't know, it was just lucky that he trusted her enough not to be too pissed off. At first, as they got closer to the sedan, he was only surprised that there was enough room in the back seat to hold anyone. When they came to a stop, Sakura shone her flashlight directly through the rear window and Kakashi got a good look of the disgruntled man inside. It took a lot longer than he would care to admit to figure out who the guy was.

His hair might have been orange if it wasn't so covered in dirt. His shoulders were broad, his expression was fixed in resigned disdain. It must have been something about that look that sparked recognition.

"Wait, isn't he..."

"Sasuke Uchiha's bodyguard. Jugo Sakaguchi. _Former_ bodyguard I should say. According to Jugo, right after we questioned him, Sasuke fired all the staff in his employ and went into private practice."

"That's..."

"Shady as fuck? Yeah."

"You believe what he says?" Kakashi asked the question while turning his head slightly so that Jugo wouldn't be able to see.

"I've got no reason not to, but I'll still look into it further, see if I can find something to corroborate his story." Sakura's nose wrinkled and her head jerked to the side, indicating that she wanted a private word. Kakashi felt very much like he was along for the ride here and he was surprised to find himself enjoying it. She was either about to apologize or ask for something. The look on her face was a dead giveaway even in the light of the high beams, he liked to think he knew her well enough now to gauge that at least. "I know why you're here, I know I broke protocol... I know it was dangerous to chase him on my own without clear vision or backup. And I am sorry, I'm fully ready to accept responsibility for my actions. But as your partner, I ask respectfully that you allow me to continue to work the case... I know it's late and that you need to assign it to someone on the night shift—"

"That's fine."

"—I'm not just a token girl in your department, I can take care of myself and I feel like I've earned the right to… Wait, what did you say?"

"It's fine, really. You were first investigator on the scene, you've got good instincts and have managed to contain the scene all by yourself. You take the lead on this one, Haruno. You have my full support."

Kakashi Hatake could claim few real joys in life. A lot of the conventional pleasures had been denied to him for so long that when he did manage to arrive at them it wasn't all that it was made out to be. So it was the little things that kept him going. And more recently, specifically, it was the look on Sakura Haruno's face when he managed to break that firm and prickly exterior. When she was shocked just enough for her bottom lip to twitch slightly and her brows ascended past that trim of neat pink hair. He would never get tired of this look on her face and it was only topped by the crimson cheeks that had appeared after the few times they had kissed.

"Oh, alright then. I guess I'll just..."

"You had a whole speech prepared, didn't you?"

"Well... I mean, I had a little something I was hoping to say..."

Kakashi chuckled at the blatant pout of disappointment.

"Well you can run through it in the car. I'll just get Kotetsu to take Tsunade's back to the precinct..."

"You sure that's a good idea?"

"I'm sure she would prefer him driving it rather than yours truly. Besides, if I'm going to be secondary on this one I need to be there when you question him. Let's go."

It didn't take a lot of convincing for Kotetsu to take the car back to the precinct; it was probably one of the best perks about being Acting Captain. Jugo didn't say a word when Kakashi climbed into the passenger's seat of the sedan. It felt oddly calming to be back in the vehicle again even if he wasn't the one doing the driving. It was that familiar scent, the texture of the seats, the same sounds he'd grown accustomed to over the years of stake outs...

The feeling only lasted until Sakura turned the key in the ignition. The wall of sound that hit his hears caused an immediate reaction.

"You fixed the goddamn CD player..." Kakashi didn't need an answer because he could see the smug look on her face. "I broke that for a reason, Haruno."

"Obito had great taste. Did he make this mix for you?"

"Shut it off, Haruno."

She slapped his hand away before he could hit the button.

"Why? Jugo doesn't mind, do you Jugo?"

"I don't really—"

Kakashi cut off the gruff but timid voice before the sentence was finished.

"Don't answer that, Jugo. That's entrapment, Detective, and I won't stand for it in my own rust bucket."

"The fact that you're calling it a rust bucket just makes your whole point moot, Hatake. Why don't you just shut up, for once, and enjoy the ride."

Kakashi was preparing a retort but his mind failed him in this instance. Maybe it was that wretched music leaching into his brain but all of a sudden he couldn't think straight. Memories of Obito singing this very song loudly (and with remarkably no skill) began to flash before his eyes. He'd intentionally broken that player for this very reason. The uninvited mass recall of memories usually had pain and sadness to accompany them. Not so long ago he would have begged for the ability to feel that pain to be stricken from him, but today it wasn't so bad.

"Whatever you say, Haruno."

Sakura seemed to know where they were going at least, turning down the nearest side road.

"Are you two always so chipper when someone has been murdered?" Jugo muttered _almost_ under his breath.

"Not especially, but we can always take you all the way to the precinct for a better look at how we operate..." Kakashi smirked to himself as he made the proposition.

"No, thank you, sorry. Just take me to my cabin, please. I don't want any trouble."

"What are you doing living all the way out here in the woods by yourself, Jugo?" Sakura questioned while taking a quick glance in the rear vision mirror.

"I like it out here, it's... quiet. Usually, anyway. No one to bother me or barge in. I only worked in the city as a favor to Sasuke…."

It was hard not to notice the way Jugo's whole expression dropped at the mention of his former employer. Kakashi knew the golden rule of investigations and it was one of the first lessons he had taught Sakura. There are no coincidences when it comes to murder investigations. This was something that needed to be looked into carefully.

"I'm sure you've been asked this already, but what were you doing in the woods near the crime scene?" Kakashi wanted to hear the story from the horse's mouth first.

"I was taking my dogs for a walk. They like to go to a particular row of trees to relieve themselves—"

"How many dogs you got?"

"Four..."

"Nice."

"Uh, thanks..." Jugo's shoulders began to relax as they came into view of a small cabin. The lights were on inside, shining through the windows and onto the small porch where all four dogs were waiting for their master. "I heard shouting while I was standing there waiting for... y'know..."

"I do know." Kakashi murmured while mentally picturing Pakkun at the street corner at 2 a.m. "What were they shouting?"

The sedan came to a stop.

"Well, it was a man and all I heard properly was: 'You bitch'."

"Then what happened?"

Kakashi turned his head as he asked the question and could see Jugo becoming more and more uncomfortable by the second.

"Well, then I heard the shots. Do we have to do this in here? Sorry, I'm just a little..."

"Claustrophobic?" Sakura answered coolly.

"Yeah, is it that obvious?"

"Only to me. You can get out of the car, you just need to tell us how many shots you heard first." Sakura had a glint in her eye and it was one that Kakashi recognized immediately. Something between a smirk and scoff that meant she already knew the answer to the question and was enjoying dangling it over Kakashi's head.

"Four... four shots definitely. It scared the dogs so badly I brought them back here. By the time I got back to see what had happened... well..."

"We had a little run together, right?" Sakura smiled and unlocked the doors.

Upon exiting the sedan and following him towards the haphazard cabin, it became blatantly obvious that Jugo was a bit of a hermit. As far as remote cabins went it was relatively tidy; however, it did appear as if the animals were the ones in charge of the place. Kakashi hadn't remembered just how tall and broad-shouldered Jugo was during that brief sighting at the precinct. But now as the man bounded up to four happy dogs Kakashi was a little impressed that Sakura had been able to chase him down single handedly. His gaze drifted to his partner and they exchanged a nod before they continued.

"So why did you run, Jugo?"

"I just didn't want any trouble."

"Why would you think you were in trouble?"

Sakura was asking the questions in a casual tone, though it appeared Jugo was infinitely more comfortable with his animals around him.

"I was in the army for a time, front lines, held prisoner in Otogakure for a year... The light hit my eyes and the instinct to run kicked in. Sorry for the trouble, Detective Haruno."

"Don't mention it. You were wounded in the line of duty, correct?"

"Yeah, how did you—" Jugo shuffled uncomfortably but was cut off mid sentence.

"The way you hold your shoulder when you stand and run. You're holding it stiff out of habit like someone would after a corrective cast or sling is removed. My guess is you were shot in the left trapezius or deltoid muscles."

_Show off. _

Kakashi had to agree with the sudden quip from his inner Obito but didn't have the chance to make a retort of his own.

"Yeah." Jugo stood straight with a hand rubbing the muscle to the left of his collar bone. "That's right. That's actually how I met Sasuke. He was the attending physician for the muscle reattachment surgery. I wasn't cleared to go back to the army after... everything. Sasuke suggested I go into the private protection sector and gave me a job straight away."

Kakashi exchanged another look with Sakura. It was a story they would need to prove or disprove, but Kakashi had a gut feeling that the guy was telling the truth about this evening's events and that was a feeling he trusted.

"Do you have any contact with your former employer?"

"No. I've tried to find him but he changed all his numbers after he let the staff go." Jugo paused as a large mixed breed dog began to lick his hand. "Last time I saw him he made us all sign a confidentiality agreement, stated specifically that I shouldn't talk to you... Detective Hatake."

"Good to know." Kakashi almost smiled at the thought. Clearly Sasuke had something to hide and now they had proof of that much at least, even though Jugo hadn't said directly what that was. It was enough. "Detective Haruno, I assume you've tested the suspect for gunshot residue?"

"Wait, suspect? You can't be ser—"

"I have, Dete—sorry, _Captain _Hatake."

"Good. We'll be in touch, Jugo." With a nod to his partner Kakashi turned back to the sedan before calling out behind him. "Don't leave town now."

It was a thinly veiled threat, and one without any particular malice or intent behind it. A hermit like Jugo wasn't likely to stray too far from that cabin. ...Unless Sasuke asked him to. When they were back safely in the quiet of the sedan, Kakashi turned to Sakura to intimate that very thought to her. Except she already had her phone to her ear and her other palm up to silence him. She wasn't sharing what the conversation was about, which was fine. Kakashi was quite content in examining their surroundings a little more closely. This cabin was hidden so well amongst the trees that it was likely the perp didn't even know it was here. That indicated perhaps it wasn't a local who had committed the crime, and considering Zabuza was originally from Kiri, it followed that his murderer might also be from the same place.

"That was Officer Tenten with the next of kin details for a wife slash business partner. Registered address is to a caravan park not too far from here. Look, I know it's late. Did you want me to drop you back at your apartment before I talk to her?"

"You're going to the residence tonight?" Kakashi couldn't hide the tone of surprise. "Alone?"

"Well, yeah. I know if it was my husband I would appreciate being told whatever time of day."

Kakashi noticed that she successfully glossed over the 'alone' comment and he didn't care. She was able to handle herself, but Sakura had also never been the sole person in charge of telling someone that their loved one had been taken from them.

"It's fine. I'll come with you." Kakashi caught the glare she shot back at him. "Not because I don't think you're capable; that's not what I meant. It's just your first time handling the next of kin and you might need the back up."

"You think I can't handle it?" she asked while turning the ignition and not breaking her eviscerating eye contact with Kakashi. "You seem to be forgetting that I was a doctor for years. It's not my first time giving bad news to the family, Hatake."

He wasn't sure how to phrase it so that she would understand what he really meant. He'd never been particularly good with that sort of thing. Thinking back to his own time as a rookie detective, Kakashi tried to remember the exact way Captain Minato had put it. He always had a way of making sense of the more subjective things and helping Kakashi to see that too. Obito had been a natural and never needed that kind of assistance, and maybe Sakura was too, but there was no way he would let her go in there unprepared.

"Sakura, this isn't the same as being a doctor. When it's surgery there's hope, there's warning, the family know where their loved one is... What you're doing here, is arriving unannounced in the middle of the night to deliver the worst news these people will ever hear. You're about to break their whole world in an instant, and right now they don't know that it's coming."

Her face was set in firm resolve. Once Sakura Haruno got it in her head to do something, there was usually no way to change her mind. Kakashi just hoped that some of his words had gotten through to her, but even if they had she would also be careful not to show it.

_She's pretty smart though, Bakashi._

When her expression softened a little as they drove into the darkness Kakashi considered himself off the hook for the moment. If she were angry at him then she would surely make it known; it was a habit she had inherited directly from her aunt. He still waited until it appeared as though Sakura's anger had subsided almost fully.

"You going to bring Sasuke in for questioning?"

He'd posed the question out of morbid curiosity more than anything. Any excuse to annoy the Uchiha was preferable in his books, even if he wasn't directly connected to the current case.

"No... I don't think he's involved at all. Besides, I promised Itachi that I'd stay away from him, remember?"

"_You_ made that promise, but _I _didn't, Haruno."

Sakura took her eyes off the road for just a second and rolled them in his direction. It was clear that she wasn't entirely amused so Kakashi decided to drop it, though it was interesting that the renowned surgeon had suddenly gone to ground. Interesting and concerning... It would have to wait for now, as the trailer park sign was coming into view of the sedan headlights.

"Alright, we're here. Just let me do the talking."

"Whatever you say, Haruno. You're the lead on this one."

What transpired next was like a scene out of a dramatic novel and it was something Kakashi would never be used to. The idea that everything is normal one second for this family, and the next is grief and turmoil. Perhaps Kakashi was only acutely aware of it after being on the receiving end of the bad news so many times. His father, his mentor, Rin...

"This is my partner, Detective Hatake..."

It was only at the sound of his name as Sakura introduced him that Kakashi managed to snap out of the fugue he'd fallen into by accident. Without a word he nodded into the confused stares of a woman and teen. They seemed to be a perfectly normal family from the outset, and they would soon learn that one of them would never come home again. The day that this part of the job became easy was the day he would retire, but that would not be today. It was Sakura's turn to take the lead now.

"Are you Mrs. Mei Terumi, ma'am?"

"Yes, that's me, just drop the ma'am part if you don't mind. I'm not quite so old yet." She tucked long auburn hair behind her ears as she stood at the door. "What's this about? Has there been some kind of trouble?"

Without missing a beat, Sakura stepped up to the plate.

"Mind if we come in?"

Kakashi knew that this was a terrible situation for this family. No matter what their relationship was like with Zabuza, they had still lost someone. While he knew this it was still reaffirming to be back in the shoes of a detective. It was much more comfortable than being acting captain. While Sakura made sure that Mei and her son were comfortable, Kakashi was able to use the time to take in all the details around him. They were things that could become helpful later on in the investigation.

The first thing he noticed was the photos on the wall. The mobile home was large, probably larger than his apartment if he were honest, but every conceivable space was taken by was a home.

"Mrs. Terumi—"

"Please, call me Mei."

"Mei... What I have to tell you is some pretty devastating news, are you sure you want your son to hear it? We can refer him to the trauma team if necessary—"

"What is it? Anything you have to say to me you can say in front of Haku."

The boy had long black hair shielding his eyes but when his mother lovingly tucked it aside there was a jerk. The boy moved away from her touch and wide, frightened eyes were revealed.

"It's about Father, isn't it? Something's happened..." His voice was cracked out of fear rather than adolescence. Mother and son now turned to Sakura with petrified faces and clung to each other.

"Unfortunately, yes. This evening, officers were called to an incident by the entrance to Kuro Forest..."

Sakura did well—remarkably well—Kakashi watched her speak to the family with the care and ease of a seasoned professional. And it wasn't without a small show of emotion from herself as well, which reassured Kakashi that he had made the right decision in letting her take the lead. She was ready. She had always exceeded expectations, just like Obito had, a born detective...

But just like Obito, she was also astoundingly naive at times.

"I promise you, I will find whoever is responsible for this, you have my word..."

The statement ignited fury within Kakashi. It was a rookie mistake, _the biggest mistake _a rookie could make and it was potentially disastrous for all involved. She had just fucked up royally right under his nose and now there was nothing he could do about it. The family had reacted to the news just as he would expect them to, with tears and exclamations of grief that tore at his chest. But the rage was overriding the surge of other emotions.

"I'll give you a moment alone, Mei, Haku, and then I'll be right back to walk you through the rest."

Sakura stood and tried to meet Kakashi's eye but he was already halfway to the door. He'd hoped the cool night air would also cool some of his anger but it was an inferno by the time Sakura got outside and had caught up to him. By then he was practically pacing beside the sedan. Had the caravan door not have been open, he would have let loose some choice words. The grief-stricken didn't need to hear the lead detective being berated on their front lawn.

"What the hell were you thinking?"

"What do you—"

"Don't play dumb, Haruno." Kakashi tried to calm himself before he stepped closer to Sakura and met her eyes. "You just made a huge mistake, you know that right? Never _ever _make promises to the victim's families—"

"I am not playing dumb, and I know exactly what I'm doing, thank you very much. I knew what they needed to hear so that we can get started with the investigation. It was the right thing to do—"

"No." Kakashi raised a finger in front of her face. "No, Sakura. The right thing to do would be to console them, offer assistance, hug them for fuck's sake. Don't go making promises that you don't even know you can keep."

"There you go, doubting me again. Just admit it, you're pissed off because I don't need you to hold my hand anymore. It's just like the goddamn hospital all over again. What is it with men who think a woman is only worthy when she has a man beside her—"

**"No." **It was the first time Kakashi had ever raised his voice so loudly in anger towards his partner in disagreement. Maybe it was because he'd been thinking of Rin earlier, but the comment she'd made stung more than he could bare. "No. You're not just some token girl in the department, Haruno. You're here on your own merits, and you will do well. But what you just did in there—" He pointed back to the house. "—What you just did is open yourself up to a whole new world of hurt that I personally know all too well. I won't watch you make the same mistakes. I can't."

"What are you saying?"

Kakashi swallowed thickly as he took in Sakura's scrunched expression, he couldn't decide if it was anger or fear.

"You wanted to be on your own with this one. Well, congratulations, you're on your own." He would hate himself later for the bitterness in his tone but right now he couldn't help it. "I'm taking a walk, let me know when you're done."

"Kakashi—"

"Just—" She had reached a hand out to his arm but he moved away before her touch could soothe the anger. He needed to be angry right now and to get it out of his system. "Just let me get some air."

He couldn't see her face properly in the dim light and it was just as well. Kakashi had never been able to hold his own against those green eyes of hers, the ones that pierced through his very soul at times. He took the path out to the main road and paced around the trees. There wasn't so much detail he wanted to take in; all he wanted now was to calm down and move on.

_She's a rookie, Bakashi, she's not going to be perfect._

"You would know all about that..."

_Let her make her own mistakes. Let her prove everyone wrong._

"And just watch her get hurt? No way, I can't do that."

_It will make her a better investigator, just like Rin._

"Just shut up!"

Kakashi shouted to the darkness and raked his hands through his hair. Maybe he was just tired and not thinking straight. Maybe it was a build up of all the stress of the last few months and landing himself the position of captain. Maybe it was from being kept in that dusty office all day while Sakura got to start her shiny career as a detective. It could all be a byproduct of jealousy.

Whatever it was it needed to stop and fast.

_What if she needs you?_

This time the thought wasn't in Obito's voice and it wasn't his own. It was Tsunade. Emotion played a part in every investigation—it was what drove good detectives as long as they didn't let it consume them, and he couldn't let that happen to Sakura. He needed to be there for her and it made him instantly desperate to get back to her. The phone buzzing in his pocket calmed his nerves enough to bring him back to earth.

It was Sakura. He answered without hesitation.

"Sakura, I'm sorry, I trust you. I know you'll do fine—"

"Kakashi—"

"I can't watch you get hurt, not with anything—"

"Kakashi!" Her voice was loud and urgent, which broke the emotional tone he had been going for.

"You calling to yell at me? I'm just down the road if you want to do it in person—"

Her next words sent a wave of electricity and fear through him. "No, we've got another body. At the circus."

Kakashi heard the not so quiet 'jackass' towards the end of the sentence and decided that it was safe enough to speak.

"I'll be right there."

"Good." She sounded cross but otherwise fine. "It's your turn to drive. 50/50, remember?"

Kakashi smiled as the tension he was holding eased.

"50/50, always."


	30. Chapter 30

Sakura Haruno was no stranger to exhaustion. First as a med student, then as a resident, it was something which had dogged her all the way up to Chief Surgeon. Now as a detective it hadn't really changed. As the morning light rose over the circus tents she noticed that her lethargy had reached an unsettling level. She had kept it muzzled and chained for so long that finally those shackles were wearing thin, but she knew that a strong bolt of caffeine and adrenaline would once again secure it in its binds.

The Hidden Mist Circus was jarring in its set up. Sakura had vague memories of being in these kinds of places when she was younger, and now, as an adult the feeling was completely different and devoid of any childlike wonder. It was a dirty maze of oddly shaped tents, with vermin and litter covering the ground, and the stench of... Well, it was a mixture of bodily fluids and death. It was pungent, it was foul, and it was inescapable.

As well as trying to ignore the exhaustion, Sakura was also doing her utmost to ignore the gnawing clutches of doubt that were hanging over her at every turn. Had she really made that big of a mistake? It certainly had felt that way as soon as the promise of justice had left her tongue, and the way Kakashi had reacted... It had solidified that guilt as much as it had lit a fire within her to get the answers she needed.

The ride over had been quiet but that wasn't exactly out of the ordinary for the duo. They didn't need words so much to communicate anymore after working so closely together. If he hadn't immediately apologized over the phone that might be a different story, but he admitted to overreacting, and Sakura was sure that he would tell her exactly why when the time was right. For now she would settle for the large steaming to-go cup of coffee that he had placed in her hand.

"Learn anything while I was out?" Kakashi asked before downing what was left in his own cup. Maybe it was because his hair was always like that, sticking out at all angles, but he didn't appear as disheveled as Sakura felt, and that pissed her off more than anything. There was a definite smell of dollar store deodorant spray about him, an indication that he was overcompensating for the smell of the secret cigarette he had likely smoked while getting coffee.

"Well, the victim's name is Gato Zori, he's one of the managers here. Two gunshot wounds to the chest, same M.O. as Zabuza's, but a different caliber weapon by the looks of the stippling. So either this murder is unrelated or our killer has two different weapons. He was left to bleed out by the dumpster but time of death is uncertain. ME has taken the body already, insect activity might be able to tell us more."

Sakura took a long draft of the blackest coffee that had ever passed her lips but she didn't care at this point—it was all fuel to keep the tiredness at bay. It was difficult to say the least. She still felt as if she were in the wrong for what she had said to the family of the victim, and yet she hadn't entirely forgiven Kakashi for how he had spoken to her.

"You're primary on this one. Where do you want to go from here?"

"Well, we should start by talking with some of the staff. Maybe they heard or saw something. It's not certain that both murders are connected yet but it would be a pretty heavy coincidence, and there are no—"

"—Coincidences in a murder investigation. Alright, I can walk the stalls and ask the vendors. I'll report back in twenty."

Sakura was worried that Kakashi would walk off before she had the chance to say anything. But as her hand reached out instinctively to touch his arm, the memory of the previous night held her back. She took a deep breath and turned to catch his eye, only to find that he was staring intently back at her with a small upturn of his lips. She knew that he was still sensitive to light, but his scarred eye was open, and it felt more like he was waiting for permission than observing her.

"Thanks, Kakashi."

He smiled before moving.

"Maybe I can win you one of those giant stuffed bears."

"Maybe I'll win one for _you_, Hatake." She issued the challenge to the back of his head as he crossed the barrier out of the crime scene.

That's right, this was her case and she was going to do well. Kakashi had reminded her of that fact when he had called her the primary. Now she needed to do as he had taught her and use the instincts of a detective, She had something to prove, to herself and to those around her.

Forensics appeared to be done with the scene relatively quickly, though it would remain cordoned off until further notice. Before she spoke to anyone she wanted a firm layout of the place in her mind. It had been difficult in the pitch black of the early morning hours to find the location of the body, and now that the sun was up it was still a maze. Sakura wanted to know this place like the back of her hand, she couldn't help but think the outcome of the case would depend on it. It only took one flash of her badge and a few terse words for a worker to retrieve one of the maps of the circus grounds. It looked like a child had drawn it, but it would do.

She took a pen out of her pocket, marking the place on the map where Kakashi had started speaking to the vendors. If he operated in a clockwise fashion he would end up at the food stalls and picnic area within a half hour. Which left Sakura with the performers' tents and caravans. She would also need to get a good look at the offices where Gato and Zabuza worked.

Two people connected to the Hidden Mist Circus killed within the last 24 hours. Could this be a serial killer? Did that mean Mei and Haku were also in danger? Sakura couldn't be certain of anything just yet. All she knew was that if she was going to make Captain within the next ten years, she would need to get this situation under control and fast.

The closer she got to the performers' tents the more out of place Sakura felt. It was bizarre enough just to see what the circus was like without the general masses of happy-go-lucky people. She couldn't help but feel like the odd one out in a tent full of self proclaimed 'freaks'. Every eye was on her as she entered. While it wasn't comfortable there was no real animosity behind the stares. The pink hair was probably helping in that regard.

There were pool tables, chairs and sofas, and a small bar in the corner of the tent. The majority of the carnie folk were sitting at tables and eating breakfast or playing cards. All chatter died down the second Sakura walked in and she got a decided impression that none of them were going to talk to her willingly. She wasn't even sure where she should start...

"Hey, Pinkie. What can I get ya?"

The bartender's back was turned but she must have seen Sakura walk in. It was as good a place to start as any. With only the back view of the woman's head it was hard to tell what it was that made her presence feel so familiar to Sakura. Maybe it was just the blonde hair and gruff tone that reminded her of Tsunade.

"Information..." Sakura said quietly as she approached the bar.

"This early in the morning and all you want is information? You must have a strong stomach, girlie. You've been here all night and you look like shit—you're having coffee at least."

It was hard to argue when the drink was already poured and in front of her.

"Thanks, sorry, I didn't catch your name." The sentence petered out as soon as Sakura looked up and got a full view of the woman's face. She liked to think that she'd seen some weird and wonderful things in her time as a doctor, but this was next level.

"Sarah Aburame." She appeared to catch Sakura's startled gaze. "And this here is Horoyoi-sensei, you can touch him if you like." Sarah stroked the bushy beard that puffed proudly from all around her chin. Sakura's mind fought to catch up with reality.

"He is certainly handsome but I was taught to look, not touch. Besides, I haven't even bought him a drink yet."

"Touche. So, what do you wanna know, Pinkie?"

"It's Sakura, and I just want to know anything you can tell me about what happened here last night. Doesn't have to be much."

"People round here don't take too kindly to strangers, y'know, but I reckon with hair like that you've been called enough names to fit in just a little." Sarah leaned against the grain of the bar counter. "We take care of our own here, whether it be good or bad. If something wrong has happened, we'll see that it gets fixed."

There were no false pretenses about the statement. Sakura had heard rumors about the kind of tight-knit communities that existed around carnival folk but this was her first real encounter with it.

"Take it you don't have anything to tell me about the murders, then?"

Sarah smiled, and while it appeared to be sincere, Sakura couldn't help but feel it was at her expense.

"No, Pinkie. But I'll be sure to call you if I do learn something."

Sakura raised her brows as she took a sip of her second coffee for the day. The liquid had lost all taste to her now. All that mattered was that the caffeine laced tepid water got into her system as soon as possible.

"What can you tell me about Zabuza?"

"What do you wanna know?"

"Was he a good boss? Do you know of anyone who had it in for him?"

Sarah looked around some before she spoke. It appeared as if everyone had gone back to whatever they had been doing before Sakura had walked in. She was in no doubt that people were listening to the conversation though.

"Zabuza... He was nice enough as a boss. Had to have everything just so but wasn't cruel to any of his staff or family. God, there's only two things that man loved, his family and his guns."

"Guns, huh?" Sakura was already making a mental note to follow up on at the precinct.

"Yeah, always carrying one. Didn't drink, but wasn't afraid to come and have a chat with us after a show. Always had that boy with him. Don't think he liked the idea of Haku being tainted by this lot of degenerates."

"What about Gato? Anything you can tell me about him?"

"Not really. Didn't see or hear anything. It was business as usual. But if I do remember something, I'll let you know, Pinkie."

With a wink, Sarah Aburame went back to tending to her patrons while Sakura descended further into disillusion. She wondered if there was actually any point to leaving her contact information with these people. This was such a closed community, "tight-knit" would be putting it lightly. She only hoped that Kakashi was faring a little better than she was. Every person she had spoken with in the performers' tent had an alibi, and while those hadn't been substantiated yet, it was like trying to wring blood from a stone. Attempting to get any useful information from these people was a pointless exercise, and no amount of coffee would change that.

That was perhaps the first moment where the pressure of the case at hand really weighed on her mind. Hope was not lost yet and there was still so much to follow up on. Just because she had reached her first dead end didn't mean the case would now go cold. Sakura tried to snap herself out of it as she rounded the corner to the row of vendors.

There wasn't really any need to scan for that familiar shock of silver hair: not only did it stand out like a sore thumb, but there weren't a lot of people around for him to blend in with. She was at just enough distance to regard him without being seen. Kakashi appeared to be intently concentrating on something. His whole body was still, his head looking downwards. As she got closer she could see that he had both eyes open and his brow was creased just slightly. He looked every bit the elderly gentleman who was trying to use a computer for the first time to look at pictures of cars he used to own. The silver hair certainly added to that mental image, Sakura made a note to make fun of his old man hair later.

"Admiring my ass, Haruno? It is spectacular today, I must say."

"What are you doing here, Hatake? Finished with the vendors already?"

"Yup." He didn't bother to look at her as he answered.

"Take it from the tone you got about as much information as I did."

"If you also got diddly-squat, then yes. Luckily I found some more fruitful endeavors to pass the time with." Kakashi straightened slightly and turned. "I've made my decision, good sir."

"Finally." A stout man appeared from the back of the stall.

"I will take the first two and the one on the end."

"They all look the same to me..." Sakura was perplexed. Kakashi was standing in front of one of those rigged games she had seen a million times before but had never been naive enough to try.

"Trust me, there's a difference. If you want to win kingyo sukui, you need the scoopers that have the best structural integrity."

Sakura couldn't help but smile as the carnie muttered something along the lines of, 'should've charged extra for looking'. This was the kind of game that was rigged from the start and there was no way anyone could actually win it.

"So what, you get three scoopers for $5, and you have to catch the goldfish and put them in the thingy...?"

"'Thingy' a technical term in the medical field, Haruno?" Kakashi shot her a snide look before he went back to examining the tub of wriggling goldfish in front of them. Sakura had rolled her eyes by way of response and he continued. "The scooper is made of rice paper, it dissolves in the water if left too long and can tear under the weight of the goldfish. It takes real skill to get them into that jar."

"Uh huh, sure."

"You doubt me?" Kakashi's eyes met hers in a silent challenge to which she simply raised her brow in reply. "Fine, pick anything, and I'll win it for you."

"Your ego is the only spectacular thing about you today, Hatake. Spare me the trip—"

"Ego has nothing to do with it. I'm telling you now, it's one hundred percent skill." He winked, the carnie standing in the back of the booth tutted his disbelief. "And if I'm wrong I'll let you pick what we eat for dinner for a whole month."

It was too good an opportunity to pass up.

"Fine, it's a deal."

"Great. So, have you picked out something?"

Sakura glanced through the shelves of plush toys and dollar store gadgets, things you could buy with less money than it cost to play one of these games. Nothing was catching her eye especially, and the entire selection had nothing especially useful in it.

"I don't know, how about the pink giraffe?"

"Pathetic. You've clearly no faith in my brilliance. Good sir, what do I win for potting the whole lot?"

The man guffawed and didn't move from his spot.

"You pot every one of those fish and I'll let you pick anything on this stand."

What happened next was something that Sakura would later recall with a perplexed kind of fondness. Considering the way Kakashi had spoken to her the night before it was reassuring to see him return to his usual goofy self. He'd apologized in that brief and meaningful way Sakura had grown accustomed to, but actions spoke louder than words. Especially with Kakashi. Sakura had often wondered what had befallen the other members of Kakashi's team, the inhabitants of the sole picture he had framed on his wall. She had the ability and resources to look up their fates, heck she could even swallow some of her pride and ask Yamato... but it just didn't feel right. If it got in the way of her investigation then perhaps she could justify it, but for now Sakura had a job to do and she needed to do it well.

If it weren't for the stench of murder that still permeated the air, Sakura might have permitted herself a bit of fun. It was bemusing—Kakashi didn't have that look of childlike wonder or excitement as he began to play the game. Instead he held an air of eerie calmness as he began this grave undertaking, and his hand moved with a kind of expertise that Sakura had to blink a few times to really be able to comprehend. At first glance she hadn't believed that more than one fish would fit on the little scooper, and yet somehow Kakashi had managed to get three in one. With a flourish of his wrist the goldfish were in the pot and the scooper was back collecting more.

"If only you could concentrate like this at the precinct, we'd get a lot more done in a day."

"Jealousy is an ugly emotion on you, Haruno." Kakashi had scooped nine out of the twenty fish in the pond before the first scooper disintegrated. He nodded to the stout man who had been cursing throughout the entire show. "Do I need to continue or do you want these back?"

"Alright." The man marched over and snatched the two remaining paddles in Kakashi's hand. "Pick anything, I don't give a—"

That was how it came to pass that the ugliest and biggest marionette puppet Sakura had ever seen was buckled safely in the backseat of the sedan.

"At least we're not coming back empty handed, so-to-speak."

"Shut up, Kakashi." She couldn't help the creeping smile on her face. "Lady Katsuyu will love her new toy though, I'll make sure she thanks you properly next time you see her."

They were halfway back to the precinct already, Kakashi behind the wheel. Sakura was going through the list in her head of what needed to be done next. It was a particular order. Gato's next of kin, if there were any they needed to be spoken with. She needed to review the autopsy report for Zabuza, though it was a pointless exercise. It was visible to everyone that the cause of death would be one or all of the three bullet wounds to his chest. Then she needed to run background checks on the circus and its workers...

"Sakura!"

Kakashi's tone was sharp enough to make her startle a little.

"What? I'm sitting right here, there's no need to yell."

"Haruno, I've been trying to get your attention for the last five minutes. You're thinking so loud I can practically hear it."

"Oh, sorry. Just going over—"

"—What you have to do next, yeah, I know. You still need to sleep, eat, and rest."

"No, I don't," she mumbled, snatching the bottle of blue liquid from the cup holder. "What I need is to catch whoever is killing people at that circus."

"And you will, but you'll burn out before then if you're not careful."

Sakura appreciated the sentiment, and if anyone knew about burnout it was Kakashi Hatake. But right now she didn't need his concern. She needed to get back to work before someone else got hurt.

"I'm going to request a protection detail for Mei and Haku once we get back."

"If you think that it's necessary."

"And you don't?"

Kakashi's eyes left the road briefly to meet hers though his expression remained impassive.

"Depends if you're asking me as your partner or your captain."

"Does it matter?"

"I suppose not." He sighed loudly. "You're not going to like either of them."

"Let me guess. You think I'm being over emotional and that it's clouding my objectivity. Well I've got news for you, Kakashi: not everything is black and white, but I'm not willing to have another body added to my conscience."

"Haruno, I never said that I didn't agree with you about the protection detail. I only said you wouldn't like the answers." There was a furrow across his brow, something she recognized as annoyance, but it wasn't necessarily because of her. "What would Tsunade say...?"

He appeared genuinely paused in thought, so Sakura finished it for him.

"Tsunade would pick up her phone and order a police detail to the home of Mei and Haku..." She couldn't help the sigh which escaped with the momentary pause. "Then she would say a protection order is useless if I don't know who I'm protecting them from."

"Exactly, and then..."

"Then she would tell me to stop getting invested emotionally and do my damned job." She paused thoughtfully and smiled. "Thanks, Kakashi. I needed that. But what do you think as my partner? Tsunade's isn't a hard nut to crack, but yours on the other hand..."

"Dark and mysterious is on my resume." He huffed in amusing himself. But it was at the same time the precinct came into view that his eyes lost that sparkle of mischief and he turned serious. "It's admirable that you want to protect them, believe me, I've been in that position but—"

"—But, you can't save everyone, I know—"

"—Not what I was going to say, thought it's true." Kakashi's shoulders tensed as they pulled into the parking lot. "What I was going to say, Sakura, is that you can't erase the hurt of what's been done. No matter what actions you take or how many suspects you apprehend. You can't undo it. No amount of promises you make can ease their suffering."

The sedan came to a stop and Sakura felt her stomach begin to churn. Something she might have once written off as the aftermath of excess caffeine consumption, but the reality was far from it. Kakashi's point wasn't so different from Tsunade's. The conclusion was at least the same.

_Do your damned job._

The realization that she was trying to heal the victim's families as if they were her own patients hit so hard that it made her nauseous. That life had been left behind for many reasons, and now wasn't the time to be playing doctor. She was a detective. She would always be professionally different from her partner because no two detectives worked exactly the same, but in this instance he was right. Because it was coming from Kakashi, the words held more depth. He had made a promise to himself to catch a killer and it had grated him down to nothing.

"Come on, we've got work to do."

Kakashi pulled the keys from the ignition before Sakura had formed the words to thank him. It was lucky that they didn't strictly need words to communicate.

"Right." They were in the elevator before Sakura noticed the distinctive pout on his features. "You, uh, okay there, Kakashi? You look like a kid whose parents drove past the fast food restaurant."

"It's nothing..." It wasn't nothing, Sakura patiently waited for Kakashi to continue. "Can't believe you didn't ask me how I mastered the fish game."

"Uh huh."

"It's quite the story, back when I was a young street urchin-"

The elevator stopped at the third floor.

"Kakashi, I know you're desperate to become one of those singing princesses from the movies, but please save it. I've got work to do."

By the time she got to her desk she was already in that tunnel vision mode. There was so much work to be done and there wasn't any time to waste. First of all was the search for next of kin for the second victim, Gato. Preliminary searches found an estranged wife with an address listed but no other contact information. Not exactly a dead end, but she would need to go to that address or find this woman another way.

It happened at the same time Sakura received Zabuza's autopsy report from Shizune. The file came through electronically and she clicked it just as her phone began to ring. She didn't even look at who the caller was. Her focus was mostly on the screen in front of her.

"Detective Haruno."

The timid voice on the other end of the line was saturated with a wavering fear, so palpable Sakura's skin prickled with goosebumps.

It was Haku, and he was in trouble.

She had jumped up from her desk with such gusto that it prompted Kakashi to poke his head out of Tsunade's office. Gai and Genma also paused what they were doing.

"I'll be right there, don't panic." She had grabbed her jacket and keys before she hung up the phone.

"What was—?"

"A death threat has been made against Haku." Sakura narrowed her eyes at Kakashi before turning to leave. "Think they need that protection detail now?"


	31. Chapter 31

Kakashi had never been so frightened to be in his own sedan before. It was perhaps negligent to allow Sakura to drive to the mental facility considering the day she'd just had, but hindsight was a fickle thing. As he watched her now, speeding through the back roads of Konoha while he white knuckled the seat, it was plain to see that things were taking a toll on his partner.

He had to let her feel it for herself, let her go through all the motions and make the mistakes that would mold her into a better detective. Maybe if he had allowed Obito that same luxury he would still be alive today to complain about it. She was a good detective. She'd gotten the necessary information from Haku and made the right calls immediately. It was just hard watching her become invested with a family that was hiding things, at least in Kakashi's opinion anyway. So when Sakura decided to briefly leave Mei and Haku in order to buy them groceries out of her own money, Kakashi had said nothing. He just carried the grocery bags quietly, thinking over this perplexing new development.

They should have told her off the bat about the man who was seemingly obsessed with Haku. A man who had been committed to a facility after his pursuit of Zabuza Momochi and several threats to the young boy's life.

It was even more frustrating when they received the news about Gato en route to the facility. It was about that time when Sakura's foot had pushed the accelerator to the floor and left it there.

"I can't believe they are unrelated..."

"People die every day, Haruno."

"Two people who work in the same circus are shot to death within a day of each other, and all you have to say is that people die every day—"

"Stay at the job long enough and you'll see stranger things, believe me. Just be glad the wife came clean about it now and not a year down the track."

"A year?" Sakura almost swerved off the road. "_A year? _Oh no, there is no way in hell this I'm going to let it drag out for that long."

"The cheating spouse theory is always plausible in any case, Sakura. Just like Gato got blown away by his wife for knocking boots with another woman, Zabuza's case could be similar—"

Sakua interrupted him not only with words but with a sharp and unnecessary turn of the steering wheel.

"—No, everything he did was for his family. Gato was a cheating loser but there's no evidence to suggest—"

"No evidence _yet. _Are you forgetting that the carnie folk refused to give us any actual information about the guy? You're running off assumptions and what the family of the victim have said, not factual evidence."

The inside of the vehicle fell silent as it continued to speed down the highway. Kakashi was deliberating whether he should have just kept his mouth shut when Sakura surprised him, like Sakura always managed to do.

"Unless... Zabuza wasn't the one cheating."

_Atta girl, she's got it now._

"Interesting theory, care to elaborate?"

"I would, just not about this case." Sakura gripped the steering wheel and her eyes flicked to Kakashi. It was one of those expressions that preceded an idea that was too good _not _to be true. "Okay, Mei is an attractive woman, I'll admit. But there isn't any evidence to suggest she's got a partner in _this _case. But what... What about Kabuto? He had to have a partner, right? What if we've been looking at the Kyuubi Killer all wrong?"

"_Assuming_ what he told us was the truth, Haruno, and that he had nothing to do with Obito's death. Assumption, not fact. But that isn't the case we're meant to be working on right now—"

"He knew he was going to die, so why would he lie?"

"To send us on a wild goose chase while other murderers get away with it? So that the Akatsuki can continue to distribute the bijuu without us breathing down their necks? Believe me, Sakura, I've already been through these questions."

It was the truth. He'd spent many late nights since the shooting wondering, picking through every detail, every word that Kabuto had spoken to them. All it did was run him in circles so badly he woke up dizzy and feeling like he hadn't slept.

"I know. It's just... I also know how stressful it's been for you as acting captain, and how little time we've had for other things... I know you would be rather working the Kyuubi case—"

"—Sakura." Kakashi interrupted her with as much authority as he could muster in one word. "It can wait. It's not like we're meant to be working it anyway, and at the very least it's not just gathering dust in a file. Major Crimes have it for a reason. What I would rather be doing right now is irrelevant when we have a murderer loose in Konoha."

Kakashi had tried not to sound bitter. These were feelings he'd had to immediately lock away into a box upon becoming acting captain. He'd had to, for his own wellbeing, but he also felt like he owed as much to Tsunade. Trust Sakura to be thinking of everyone but herself in this kind of situation. Sakura had picked up Kakashi's habit of diving too deep into a case to the point of obsession.

Judging by the way the sedan was now slowed to within legal limits, Kakashi assumed that the worst of her temper storm had passed. Unless he was sitting directly in the eye of it.…

"You're the one who told me to follow my instincts, remember? Or is the hair not the only thing about you that's addled with age?"

"Working off that theory, does that make you a misunderstood fourteen year old girl? Dying your hair pink in the vain hope that the world will finally see you for who you are, rebelling in the most predictable way—"

"—I'll have you know, Kakashi Hatake, that the hair is…" Sakura's voice had been raised and angry mere seconds ago but it petered out, either because they had arrived at their destination, or because she had second thoughts about continuing the conversation. She put on airs of false calm as they pulled into the parking lot. "It's none of your business anyway, and we're here. Can we stop being childish for a couple hours and get the job done, please?"

It was another eerie Tsunade impression, complete with a look of malevolence that made only one answer acceptable. It was all Kakashi could do to stop himself from grinning. There were some lessons that needed to be experienced without any kind of explanation, especially as a detective where things were fairly intuitive. Captain Minato had taught him the same way and it was something that stuck to him.

"You angry?" He phrased it as a soft question she would have to answer.

"Angry? Kakashi, I'm frustrated, I'm tired, and hungry. I've been stuck in this shit box of a car with you teasing me and questioning me at every goddamn turn…"

"Good."

"What do you mean, 'good'? Are you trying to—?"

"Good, Haruno." The engine was cut off and it was easier to hear the emotion in Sakura's voice without the revving. Kakashi turned and leaned closer to her, placing his hand over hers just at the moment he started to speak. "I understand that frustration better than anyone, but I also know that you need to channel that energy: use it, hone it, aim it at the suspect you're about to question and not towards yourself. This is the part of the job they don't teach you in the academy and it's still tricky even for the more…_seasoned_ of us, as you've seen."

He stopped and admired the way confusion looked on her face. It took a moment, but those bewitching green eyes eventually sparkled again in a more familiar way. Kakashi hadn't been purposely goading her at first; it had just turned out like that. Maybe he was just making a poor attempt at lightening the mood.

"You're right. I hate you, but you're right. I can't be losing it in an interrogation like _some people."_ The mischief was back in her eyes as they narrowed in his direction.

Kakashi wasn't a simpleton, he knew what she was referring to. Punching Mizuki in the face was potentially not his finest moment.

"Exactly, no one wants to be like Shiranui. Shall we go inside then?"

He was moving and out the door by the time he heard her chuckle and decided he was fully off the hook for any poking or prodding. It was only then that he allowed himself to smile. Teasing her was probably too much fun. It would get him into trouble one of these days—he was sure of it. But it was also one of the few reprieves in his day, something he looked forward to, and she dished it out right back at him. Even if some aspects of their relationship had shifted with his becoming acting captain, it was reassuring to know that some things never changed.

Kakashi hated these kinds of facilities. They were last resort places where the dregs of society ended up when there was no living person left to care for them. If they weren't lucky enough to have criminal records, those unfortunate souls were turned out onto the streets as soon as they were deemed functioning. Cast aside to be the jesters of society. The ones living out of dumpsters behind shopping centers, stealing what they could grab to get by, until haggard store owners finally became angry enough to call the police. They would then get taken into custody for the minimum, a day sometimes more. No treatment offered for the obvious mental illnesses but a steel bed and a tepid meal. Then they would be sent right back out to the street where no one would try to speak to them and make sense of the garbled sentences and tics. Too often the petty crimes escalated, out of madness and desperation, and only then did the government fork out for a permanent bed in the Konoha State Care Facility.

His first exposure to the place had been from the other side of the law. Occasionally one of the regular faces of the homeless community from Konoha Park would disappear. Dragged off to this ancient brick building that didn't deserve the word 'care' in the name.

Fuguki Suikazan wasn't exactly a poor and unfortunate soul in Kakashi's mind. The guy had done enough shady things to warrant 24-hour monitoring. His over the top obsession with Haku, a fourteen-year-old boy, was just one red flag of many. But he wasn't going to rush to judgement until he had met the guy in person. Part of him was also tempted to let Sakura deal with the questioning while he had words with management about how Fuguki was able to contact Haku from inside the 'secure' facility. The terms of the protection order forbid any contact from Fuguki, and yet he had been able to bypass this to threaten Haku once again. If he'd managed to do this unnoticed, what else was the man capable of?

"So what did the letter actually say?" Kakashi asked as they ascended the stairs, being led by a nurse.

Sakura sighed before pulling the paper out of her jacket. Kakashi noted how she began reciting it, despite not having even bothered to look down at it or remove it from its evidence bag.

"The usual creepy spiel. 'I know what you are. You can't hide from me forever. Don't think I'll forgive you for what you've done. I'll see you when they let me out.' Abnormal fixation or obsession is indicative of deeper mental instability, I'm no specialist but this could be anything from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder to a form of violent psychosis."

"Sometimes I forget you're a doctor..." Kakashi had the thought out loud but it wasn't too mumbled for her to make out.

"_Was, _Hatake. I was a doctor."

"You can be my personal physician any day." Obviously he had been spending too much time with Genma, that was the only explanation for the raised eyebrow and almost wink he shot in Sakura's direction. "How do you want to proceed with Fuguki?"

"You want me to take the lead?"

"This is your case, after all. And if you're no specialist in psychiatric disorders that probably makes me a dung beetle by comparison."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Sakura paused thoughtfully. They were standing outside the door of the room Fuguki was being held in. Kakashi could see him through the little window. "Just let me do the talking."

The air of confidence with which she entered that room—that was all she needed to succeed and Kakashi knew it. It had been his intention from the start to give her a nudge in the right direction. Just because she was no longer a practicing medical professional didn't mean that knowledge wasn't helpful in the field. As much as she seemed to want to seal that part of her life behind her, and Kakashi understood that desire, right now they needed to tap into her potential for the greater good.

"Mr. Suikazan?"

Sakura had adopted a tone he recognized from the very first day they had met and questioned those teen boys. It was one of tenderness and sincerity, and it was funny to think that all those weeks ago he'd believed it to be a false act.

Now he knew for certain that nothing about Sakura Haruno was fake. She was the real deal.

"I'm not telling you anything."

Fuguki sounded surprisingly coherent for a man currently committed to a facility. Maybe he was used to saying that to police. Kakashi was just glad that the rotund man was restrained to the chair. Everything about him seemed wild: the long hair, the look in his eye, the tangled mess of facial hair.

"You don't have to tell me anything, Mr. Suikazan. I just wanted to take a good look at you for myself. See the grown man who is obsessed with the circus poster boy. But I really expected to see something...more. How disappointing..."

"Let's make one thing clear, alright." The gruff and agitated reply just meant that his partner's tactic had worked, and she had never looked so smug about it. "I don't give a rat's ass about that circus. Can burn down for all I care. Place is a cesspool for freaks."

"Strong words coming from someone who was thrown out of said circus for being a creep."

"I _had_ to be there. You don't understand, none of you understand." Fuguki ended his sentence with a violent jerk of the chair he was sitting in. Kakashi knew his type, knew he'd done it to scare Sakura, and he couldn't help but notice the surging pride that she hadn't taken the bait. She didn't even blink from her position across the table.

"Care to enlighten me?" Sakura leaned forward with her elbow on the table, paired with a look that Kakashi recognized but couldn't immediately name. It was Sakura's own way of appealing to the man with her feminine wiles. It was a technique he'd seen Tsunade do a thousand times, and been on the receiving end of. It was fun to watch from his corner of the room. "Or am I not your type, hm? Is it just adolescent boys that get your interest—?"

"If you had as much money to invest as I do, girlie, then you would be interested. But I bet you're too blind to see the possibilities... Too straight to know the potential of that boy and how wasted it is in that shit box of a circus."

"Oh, so you're a big shot, huh?"

"You could say that."

"Kid had potential, you say?"

"Yeah, potential. Kid had more talent in his little finger than the rest of that entire cesspit of freaks."

Sakura was doing what she had done with Mizuki, what she had done with those two boys in the precinct: she was keeping Fuguki talking by making him comfortable. The more talking he did, the more likely they were to get the information they wanted. Kakashi was content to let her take the lead, to watch her thrive. He just wondered when she had picked up that skill. Had he taught her that? Surely not. It must have come from Tsunade's influence.

Kakashi had been naive and he was only realizing it now. He had falsely believed that he needed to take on the role of her tutor, her guide as a new detective; when all she really needed was a shove in the right direction. Sakura could handle the rest and she was showing him that right this second.

He needed to be her partner, not her captain, not her teacher. All he could do was support her and work _with _her. It shouldn't have taken him so long to realize it.

"Talent in what?"

"You really don't know, do you? I bet that family has you all caught up in their web... You look the bleedin' heart type." Fuguki at least appeared to be interested now. It was a tactic. Kakashi knew the type of man even if he didn't understand the mental illness fully. Men who felt like they knew more than the authorities liked to lord that over them at every opportunity. Sakura didn't respond, she merely waited for the man to keep talking. "Kid was going places, and we were cashing in on it."

"We?"

"Yeah, 'we.' Did I stutter?" Fuguki leaned forward, something sinister dripping from his voice. "You don't know anything."

Sakura met his glare with a smile and it was as foreboding as it was sexy. At least to Kakashi anyway. For the moment he was enjoying watching, but he straightened himself to step in, just in case.

"What I do know, Mr. Suikazan, is that a man is dead and the evidence led me here, to you. So you can either explain the situation to me, or I can arrest you for intimidation, violation of a restraining order, and murder. What do you think, Lieutenant, did I miss anything?"

"Sounds spot on to me." Kakashi stepped forward and took the seat next to Sakura. "Maybe throw in a charge of obstruction, that always gets the DA's attention."

"Oh yeah, good point. Haku is still a minor too, so that should carry some weight with a jury—"

"_Murder? _Oh, hell no." Fuguki shifted against his restraints. "In case you haven't noticed, pigs, I've locked up in here. It's not like I can walk out the front door and kill someone."

"That doesn't mean you couldn't arrange someone else to do it for you." Sakura had a bored expression and tone, and Kakashi knew that she was goading Fuguki into saying more. If it weren't for the man in front of them he would have complimented her.

"And just who am I meant to have killed?"

"Zabuza Momochi." At her words Fuguki sat back in his chair with a more pensive expression. "You didn't know he was dead, did you?"

Silence. It was quite obvious to see that he hadn't known about the murder, but the dejected way he looked gave away more than he was saying. They knew the answer before Fuguki shook his head.

"You can see why we're here now." Kakashi followed Sakura's lead. "Day after Zabuza turns up dead, the man who issued the restraining order against you, and you're sending threats to his son—"

"It wasn't like that. Those notes were meant for Zabuza." Fuguki sighed loudly. "He got me put in here because he wanted to use the boy's talents and keep the whole pot for himself. But it was _me, _I was the one who showed him that con in the first place."

Anger was seeping through and it was time to take advantage of that.

"What talents? What con?"

"Look, that kid, Haku—he's a born gymnast. He's going places."

"A gymnast." Sakura narrowed her eyes, quickly glancing to Kakashi in disbelief. "Really?"

"Yes, really. Just watch the videos if you don't believe me. It's all over YewTube. We had him sign up for domestic competitions, small time stuff, but people are willing to bet on anything these days." The grin that struck Fuguki's face as he spoke was something Kakashi didn't want to remember. "That was how it started anyway. We were making a nice sum out of it, until the kid started not turning up to domestics." The grin faded into anger. "I turn up at that shithole circus to check on my _investment _and Zabuza, that son of a bitch, turns me away. Says the kid is only doing international comps now. I find out later that he's got some scholarship, a funding campaign for schooling or whatever, big time money..."

"That must have pissed you off."

"You're damn right it pisses me off. That was my dime, my con, he had no right to cut me out of it. So I let him know I was watching, that I knew what he was up to, but I didn't kill him. Doubt that kid will amount to anything now without Zabuza there to tell him what to do."

It would be easy enough to verify Fuguki's whereabouts during the time of the shooting. His suite was under 24-hour surveillance. There was a shadow of something that passed across Sakura's face before it faded to impassiveness. Kakashi watched as she stood and left without another word to the suspect. While it surprised him that she was giving up so readily on squeezing any more information out of him, he also doubted that the guy had anything left to give. He followed her after a curt nod to Fuguki. He may not be guilty of killing Zabuza, but there was no doubt in his mind that the guy was guilty of something else.

Not so many words were spoken between the partners as they made a stop to the facility's security department. Kakashi didn't mind it so much. There was a lot to process and a long ride back to the precinct. They could talk in privacy then. Since day one Sakura had limited speculating about case theory until all the facts were laid on the table. It was something that Kakashi appreciated, but with a tinge of nostalgia for the constant chatter that Obito had once subjected him to. They were half way back to the precinct before Sakura said anything.

"Something isn't adding up." She had a pensive tone, staring out the passenger's side window while Kakashi drove on in silence. He was unsure if the sentence was rhetorical so he kept his mouth shut for the moment. "Fuguki is a piece of work but he never left that facility. He's got motive, sure, but no means and no opportunity."

"Lucky you've got other leads to chase up then."

"Mmm." Sakura mumbled without looking at him. "What are you going to do when we get back?"

"Well, there's still a precinct to run." Kakashi thought on the question for a moment and wondered if this was her way of asking for help. Maybe she needed a gentle nudging to get going. "What Fuguki had to say about the family was interesting though."

"Interesting, how?" Her attention finally snapped to him. "You think there was any stock to what he was saying?"

"Well, he appeared lucid enough, and if what he had to say proves to be true there's a whole new avenue of investigation to be taken."

"Lucid, maybe, but the guy is definitely a psychopath."

"How so? I thought you never majored in psychology."

"Let's just say I dated one long enough to be able to identify the markers in others." She huffed and rolled her eyes. "Fuguki displayed emotional absence, a show of superficial emotions unless it directly involved himself and his own interests. His whole world centers around his own self, in his own head, and when that is threatened he would certainly be capable of great violence..."

When Sakura trailed off this time Kakashi left her to her thoughts. Detectives didn't get to pick and choose their victims or who they helped. The intuitive forces they operated in, the 'gut feelings,' they weren't able to stand up in court before a jury. Instinct and emotion were part of the game, but only to assist, and Kakashi knew that sometimes it blinded them from truth. That had certainly been his experience. With Rin, and with Obito.

The precinct was the usual hive of activity. Kakashi was approached before he even reached the elevator. Sakura carried on, catching his eye with a nod. He watched her face until the moment the doors closed and obscured his view. Maybe it was due to the mass recollections of Rin he'd been experiencing lately causing the heavy sadness that weighed on his chest, but it seemed to lighten at the sight of Sakura safe and well.

The pressing matter in the lobby turned out to be a clerical error that would take more pointless paperwork to fix up. More and more Kakashi was seeing the true side of being a captain, and it was behind a desk. Meetings about meetings, mountains of paper, and angry calls from superior officers about numbers. It was always about the numbers and never about the _people _involved. He was feeling like an auditor rather than acting captain. It was enough to cause him to look forlornly at his desk as he passed it. Tsunade's office just wasn't the right place for him. He belonged in the bullpen.

Last night's argument with Sakura was still in the forefront of his mind as he sat at the desk pushing paper for the next hour. Perhaps it was a tinge of jealousy that he was no longer in the field, that he had been saddled with a responsibility he hadn't asked for. He'd never wanted to be captain. As soon as Tsunade woke up, or a more suitable replacement came along, he would be free.

_Don't be a fool, Bakashi._

Kakashi couldn't explain the sudden reaction he had to hearing that voice of Obito in his conscience. With a twitching urgency his right hand shifted to wrench open the top drawer of the desk. It was where he'd taken to keeping the spare gun he had borrowed from Sakura. He cast his eye over it for a moment before slamming the drawer shut again. When he looked up the vision of pink caused him to jerk again.

"Sakura, I didn't see you come in."

"It doesn't add up, Kakashi."

She seemed frazzled, with wide eyes and hands wringing nervously. They had only been back for an hour, maybe two, and she had gotten herself in a frenzied state.

"What doesn't add up?"

In reply she huffed and crossed the space of the office in two strides. Sakura pushed his chair out of the way so she could have unfettered access to his computer. All manner of things were shoved aside in the process, paper cascading to the floor.

"Hey, what are you doing? I was working on that!"

"Look at this." With a few short taps of the keyboard there was a video up on the screen. "Fuguki wasn't lying. See this? It's a video of a collegiate gymnastics tournament."

"This is Haku?" Kakashi didn't need to ask the question; he was clearly visible on the monitor.

"Yeah, so I looked into it, and get this. Attached to that video is a funding page for Haku to attend the prestigious Konoha Gymnastics Academy. It's benefactor being Zabuza Momochi."

"I'm no expert but the kid looks pretty good at it."

"He is. Exceptional, even. He takes out that competition without even breaking a sweat. According to the judges' testimony of this event, Haku was well on his way to becoming a serious competitor at the professional level." Sakura glanced to Kakashi and those green eyes were wild with ideas and lack of sleep. But it wouldn't do to stop her now. "The fund hasn't been withdrawn but it's a substantial amount."

"Enough to kill for?"

"That's what I was wondering."

"What about it doesn't add up, Sakura?" Kakashi was torn between watching the screen and enjoying the view of her face so close to his. He could admire the finer details from this position. It was something he hadn't allowed himself to do for some time and he found himself missing that closeness despite spending so much time with her.

"This part…" The video continued to play, and at a particular section where the camera was pointed directly into the crowd of supporters, Sakura hit pause. "This is the part that doesn't add up. You see there, in the crowd, you can see our vic sitting at the sideline, stoically supporting his son but—"

"—Where is the mother?"

"Exactly. I went through a ton of these, and she doesn't appear in any of them. I'm starting to wonder if she even _knew _that Haku was competing in these things. What if she found out, what if she realized Zabuza was conning people out of money and using their son to do it?"

"Interesting theory, but—"

"—_But—"_

"—But, without any evidence it's just that, a theory. Do you have any proof that the money being collected was a scam, or was the intention really to send Haku to private school?"

Saura didn't answer, instead she huffed loudy and backed away from the desk. Kakashi sat back and watched as she processed everything with shaky hands running through her hair. Every detective had a different method: Obito's had been pacing, Kakashi himself was particularly fond of staring at the crime scene photos until they spoke to him. Until now, Sakura had never come across a road block like this in a case, and this was also her first case as lead detective so the pressure was tenfold. The last thing he wanted was to see her defeated, but as she sank into the couch in the corner of Tsunade's office he realized that she was already feeling lost.

"I knew, I knew it was just a theory, but without it I've got _nothing_. Ballistics came up _nothing_, it's amazingly not linked to the other murder on the circus grounds, CSU got no prints from the car or the tire iron. Financials show absolutely _nothing _for Mei, Haku, or Zabuza. The forensic accountant is on the circus books but god knows how long that will take. And I… I just don't know if any good will come from interrogating the family.…" She looked up at him from that sofa and Kakashi realized how hard it was for her to admit that she was lost, even if she was only stating facts on the case. This was her way of admitting she was stuck. Every time she punctuated the word _nothing _it was with an extra measure of emotion. Maybe she was too attached to be objective, or maybe she needed a push in the right direction. "What do I do?"

"You go back to the start," he said matter-of-factly as he stood and approached to sit beside her. "Go back to the beginning."

"Forty-something male found shot to death at the side of a deserted road—"

"No." Kakashi interrupted but without any malice intention in his tone. "Beginning, Sakura, the very beginning." When she looked at him square in the eye with a furrowed brow he felt the need to elaborate further. "Who found the body?"

"Dispatch…" Sakura trailed off with a whisper, her eyes wide shifted and zoned in on the computer. Without another word or explanation she was up and at the desk, typing furiously. "Dispatch called in a flat tire, but when the officer arrived there was no flat tire and a dead body. If I can find out who called in the flat…"

She was onto something and it was fascinating to watch. He'd seen how she lost herself in files and autopsy reports, how she was able to seemingly pull information out of thin air. It was one of the reasons he valued her so much as a partner, one of the reasons he had finally acquiesced in sharing the reins of Obito's case. Sakura continued to beguile him at every turn, and he stood beside her with a smirk ot satisfaction.

"Dispatch records all calls, you could probably request the tapes—"

"—No need. I've found the digital report that was filed." Sakura was inches from the screen. Kakashi marvelled at how she was able to type without looking at the keyboard. "An on-duty officer phoned in the flat on his patrol of the area, came across a… _woman _in distress. Wanted to make sure that she had managed to get home…"

"Who was the off—"

"Kotetsu!" Sakura yelled so loudly she must have been directly channeling Tsunade. Maybe the force was just stronger in her office. It caused Kakashi to step back and hold his ear.

"Yes, Cap—I mean, yes, Detective Haruno." Kotetsu put his head through the door first as if he were scared for the rest of his body to follow. "How can I be of assistance?"

"That flat tire you drove past two nights ago by the forest, did you get the name of the woman?"

"Ugh, no. Sorry, I was just driving past. She said her friend was going to come get her."

Kakashi and Sakura exchanged glances.

"You _spoke _to her?"

"Yeah, I mean, yes, ma'am. She seemed like a nice lady, it's a dangerous stretch of road so I wanted to make sure she got home. Some guy was murdered on the same road—"

"We need to get him in front of a sketch artist, now." Sakura cut him off, looking to Kakashi. But she wasn't asking permission—she was telling him. "Think you can describe her?"

"Yeah, sure, she was pretty, long hair—"

"Not to me, idiot, to a sketch artist. We better move fast, I don't know how much longer his brain can hold the details."

"Hey—" Kotetsu made to protest at being made fun of, but thought better of it as Sakura pushed him out the door. Kakashi was about to bend down and retrieve the papers that had been knocked off in Sakura's enthusiasm. He didn't notice the full smile tugging on his mouth until he caught his reflection in the window.

"You coming with?" Sakura had returned to the office doors with flushed cheeks and short breath.

His smile widened.

"I wouldn't miss it."

There were other things he could be doing at this moment, and arguably more important things to be sure. He was acting captain after all. But it all seemed to pale in comparison to this. Kakashi had never been so certain that he was in the right place and doing the right thing at the side of his partner. There wasn't much the two of them could do while Kotetsu sat in with the sketch artist, but it seemed like a great opportunity to share a cup of coffee together. Sakura didn't say much as she anxiously watched through the window to the interview room. Unlike before, Kakashi didn't feel the need to step in. He was just ready to bask in the glory of her new lead.

"Thanks, Kakashi."

"What for?"

"You know what for. For not… well, for not giving me shit about it. It was really decent of you."

"I am capable of being decent from time to time, no need for the tone of surprise."

"Well, I appreciate it. Thank you."

"I can also be charming, clever, roguishly handsome—"

"Modest too."

"Okay, that was sarcasm, Miss Haruno. It's the lowest form of humor and I won't stand for it."

"No, the title of lowest form of humor belongs to puns and you can't change my mind."

"Well, I'll have you know…"

They were standing beside each other, lost in the back and forth of easy banter. It took them both a moment to realize that the sketch artist was leaving the room. Kotetsu appeared in the door frame holding the piece of paper. Kakashi tapered off the sentence as he watched Sakura step forward with that furrowed brow again.

"Oh, my…"

"I'm sorry, Detective Haruno, it was the best I could do. I'm pretty confident in the likeness, it was dark but I got a good view when I flashed my flashlight at her—"

"Kakashi, doesn't this look like—"

"Yeah, it does…" The familiar prickling sensation was rising up the back of his neck and for the first time Kakashi wondered if Sakura had felt it too. "A dead ringer. Send a squad car, now."


	32. Chapter 32

As she stood in the observation chamber, Sakura watched through the one way glass with a cocktail of emotions churning in her stomach. She was hoping to see something, anything, that would indicate that this person was a murderer, but all she could see was a person. That thought frightened her more than she cared to admit.

Anyone could be a cold-blooded killer.

With a deep breath and a glance to her partner before she left, Sakura decided it was time. The door clicked shut behind her in the interrogation room and she forced herself into a state of calm. It was what Tsunade would have done.

_Keep a level head if you want to catch this son of a bitch._

"Sakura! Thank goodness you're here. They won't tell me anything and I've been waiting here for hours."

"Hello, Mei." She took small comfort in the fact that Kakashi was watching her behind that glass. But at the same time she still had something to prove. She wasn't about to let her first case as lead go unsolved. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

"I'm just glad you're here. I know you'll tell me what's going on. You know they separated me from Haku—where is he? What do they want with him?"

"Yes, well, _they _were just following orders. My orders." Sakura sat opposite Mei, not taking her eyes off her face, gauging every reaction. "But I am sorry to have kept you waiting in the dark. There were some things I had to follow up with before I could speak to you."

Mei's eyes narrowed a fraction as they bore into Sakura, demanding her for explanation without actually asking.

"'Your orders?' I'm afraid I don't understand." She looked puzzled but with a hint of anger to her tone. "I thought, Detective, that you were on my side. My son and I were dragged down here, separated, and made to wait hours without anyone telling us why we're here. You made a promise that you would catch his killer—"

"Oh, I have." Sakura kept eye contact with Mei, kept her own expression impassive while Mei appeared to be frozen to the spot. "Recognize this?"

She had brought the file with her, opening it and taking out the first page before laying it delicately in front of Mei Terumi.

"N-no. What is it supposed to be?"

"Well, this is a composite sketch. A patrolling officer witnessed this person." Sakura tapped the paper for effect and continued, "at the scene of Zabuza's murder."

"That's—"

"Interesting, isn't it? We're fairly certain that this woman was the one who lured your husband to the side of the road under the ruse of a flat tire. Before she shot him to death." Sakura waited purposefully for the moment Mei took the sketch in hand. "You don't see the resemblance?"

"No, I'm afraid I don't, Detective. And frankly, I don't see what this has to do with me or my son."

"Perhaps you'll recognize this." From the inside of her jacket Sakura retrieved an evidence bag. She dropped it onto the table with a loud clunk of metal on metal, the proverbial smoking gun. "This is the gun Zabuza gifted to you for protection."

Mei sat in stoic silence. It was difficult to tell whether it was out of surprise or disdain from the look on her face.

"I wouldn't know, Detective. That gun was reported missing a while ago and this one is covered in dirt, how can you expect me to—"

"—Why don't you look a little harder then." Sakura resisted the urge to slam a hand on the table but she made sure to put as much acid into her words as possible. "The gun was never missing, was it? You had this all planned out for months."

Something shifted in the woman seated across from her, in those green eyes which had once appeared genuinely hurt and grief-stricken. Now a shadow passed over Mei's features and a smirk tugged at her lips. It had finally reached the point where she knew that Sakura was no longer wrapped around her finger.

"You certainly have a rich imagination, that's for sure. But that's all it is and I have no interest in playing along with mind games. _If _that is my weapon, as you claim, you'll have to prove it."

Sakura knew that in an interrogation, the caliber of the questions was just as important as the caliber of the silence. She took this opportunity to calm herself, steel her nerves for the next part, and perhaps lull Mei into a false sense of security for the moment.

"Funny, he said you'd say that." Sakura didn't wait for her to take the bait. "Haku knows you so well. The gun was exactly where he claims you buried it."

"What? The boy is delusional, he's just lost the only father figure he's ever had that amounted to anything."

"He also claims that you were the one, who lured Zabuza to the side of the road that night, that you forced your son to watch as you shot his father."

"Pure and utter nonsense! Why would I—?"

This time she did slam her hand on the table to turn over the next piece of paper in the file.

"I asked myself the same question, and I must admit, you even had me fooled for a while there. But then I did my job, did some digging to back up what your son told us." Sakura placed a finger on the paper. "This is the enrollment form for Haku to join the Konoha Gymnastics Academy. I found it odd that only one parent endorsed his education. It seems as if Zabuza had big plans for Haku... that didn't include you."

"This is absurd."

"No, what's absurd, Mrs. Terumi, is that you phoned the Academy hours _before _Zabuza's murder to withdraw your son's application. I bet you were pissed that Zabuza had enrolled _your _son without your signature, without your support."

"You have absolutely no proof of any of this."

Sakura stood.

"Really, you think I'd bring you down here without any proof? I may be a rookie, but I'm not stupid." She leaned forward on the table as she turned over the next paper in the file. "After Haku told me the story, my partner had your phone records pulled. Interesting, isn't it? That a call was placed from your cellphone to Zabuza minutes before his death."

"He was late; I could have been calling to check in with him."

"Oh, he was late, alright. Late to catch on to you. See, that call, it places your location. We know exactly where you were when that call was made and your son backs up our records."

"And you honestly believe him? He's a child. One worked to the point of exhaustion 'training' with his father for some ridiculous academy in the middle of nowhere. Anything he says without a parent present can't be considered fact, surely."

"Was that the reason you did it, Mei? Was it to keep your son close, or was it for the hefty sum from the funding campaign?" Sakura didn't break eye contact with Mei as she turned over more pages from the file. "See, I looked into your finances. That money would be enough to pay off your debts and get you out of the circus game for good."

"Did you consider, Detective, that this is all a set up? Did you consider that the boy may have taken the gun, taken my phone, shot his father to get out of going to this school?" The smirk on Mei's red lips was something Sakura was desperate to slap off her face. "You have no evidence, only circumstantial bullshit."

"Think about it this way..." Sakura leaned right up to her face, confronting that fickle beauty that had lured men to their doom, "You had motive. You had means. You had opportunity. And I have two witnesses placing you at the crime scene. I've got forensics sweeping your home, your car, your clothing... and when they find something, you're going to prison."

Perhaps she had been expecting something more in keeping with her hospital days when a patient or family member was given bad news. Sakura had expected Mei to break down, confess perhaps, to give her some shred of human emotion in response. But there was nothing. Just an evil calm that kept her smoothe.

"I'd like a lawyer now."

Sakura smirked this time, collected her papers, and slammed the door behind her with a deep breath. Her eyes must have closed for a fraction of a second because suddenly her vision was filled with Kakashi even though he hadn't been there a moment ago. He said nothing, but his eyes were speaking for him. He was written with concern, the way his forehead was creased, the way his scarred eye was watching her. It was sweet yet irritating: she didn't need him worrying over her. All she needed now was a speck of evidence and a bed.

"You did well in there, Haruno."

"Did I though? She's right, her case _is _circumstantial. She gets a good enough lawyer and they have an argument for dismissal."

"That's only _if _we don't find anything at the house. There will be something, Sakura." He placed a hand on her arm. "Gunshot residue, bullet casings, hair—there will be something. And on the slim chance there isn't, you've still got a strong case."

Something, maybe his touch or his tone, bothered her enough to step back out of his reach.

"I'm not doubting the strength of my case. I'm doubting who pulled the trigger, and it's pissing me off. You don't think it's just a little suspicious that Haku spills his guts as soon as we get him alone in that room? That he was conveniently witness to it all and didn't say anything sooner?"

Kakashi was as seasoned as they came. Surely he would be able to see the inconsistencies. To Sakura, it felt all too convenient. There was no doubt that Mei had played her for a fool, but could a mother really throw her child under the bus to protect herself from a murder charge? If she had done it all to protect Haku from the kind of lifestyle Zabuza was leading, why would she then blame the kid for his murder?

"Sakura, you're going to have to get used to the fact that we may never know exactly which one of them pulled the trigger. The soil that the gun was buried in got rid of any partial prints or DNA to link them. Haku is a kid, he's confused, he's scared. But all of his information has been accurate. But you did everything you could possibly do. You did your job."

"It doesn't feel like enough." Sakura hadn't intended for the words to sound so dejected. She then overcompensated by straightening her posture and meeting Kakashi in the eye. "Can I go home now, Captain?"

There wasn't any need to throw the title at the end of the sentence. It caused Kakashi to scrunch up his nose in displeasure but only for a second.

"Sure, I'll have Genma put Mei into booking. Haku is still being processed—"

"I don't really care," she lied. "I'm tired, I can't remember the last time I slept in my own bed."

"Occupational hazard, that one. You sure you don't want to stick around?"

"I'm sure. See ya later."

Sakura couldn't bring herself to look at him. She turned and made a beeline for the elevator, leaving her jacket and the keys to the sedan on her desk. As soon as she hit the street she scanned for the first yellow cab on the horizon and flagged it down. Later on she wouldn't even remember telling the driver her address. Everything seemed so blurred, so singular. She needed to get home and get into bed. Then maybe things would start to make sense, though she doubted it.

Once within the sanctuary of her own apartment that fleeting notion seemed so much further from her reach. Nothing made sense. Not about this case, about the lives that were ruined because of it. It was senseless. Perhaps it was tiredness alone that was making her feel so conflicted. It churned her stomach into knots, no doubt the byproduct of switching sleep for caffeine and sustaining herself with junk food. She managed to nap for a few hours before the tumultuous turn of her thoughts caused her to wake with a start.

The tiredness had subsided, and now all she was left with was unadulterated anger.

It didn't matter what she chose to do with herself—catching up on laundry, checking the latest medical journal, or watching garbage television. Inevitably her mind went back to the case. The stupid, solvable case that she had messed up somewhere along the way. If only she had been better at her job then she wouldn't have missed it. There had to be something that she wasn't seeing.

By the time darkness began to creep over Konoha, Sakura had been unable to stop herself from accessing the case file from the precinct laptop that sat on her kitchen table. What raised the biggest red flag for Sakura was the letter from Fuguki to Haku. It didn't make sense that someone in a secure facility had been allowed to contact the object of their restraining order without raising any alerts. Had someone else sent it for him? Was Fuguki really the author of the letter at all? Without it they would never have found the money trail, the gymnastics school, or the dubious intent of Mei Terumi.

It all seemed so unsure, so grey and senseless. It didn't matter how many times she read the medical examiner notes or the crime scene report. The puppet Kakashi had won for her at the circus wasn't saying anything from its spot on the side table. Nothing was clear about the murder of Zabuza Momochi, and there were no clues left to follow up.

There had been no evidence to suggest that Haku was even at the crime scene, but if that were the case then how did he know so many details? From the moment Haku opened up to them it seemed deliberate and calculated, as if every word had been weighed and measured before it was spoken. It was all very suspicious.

They had both been there, but which one of them had pulled the trigger?

At the very moment she had come full circle on the details for the umpteenth time there was a knock at the door. Lady Katsuyu immediately retreated to the bedroom which confirmed Sakura's theory.

"Come in, Kakashi. Door's open."

"You really shouldn't leave your door unlocked. You never know what kind of trash might try to come in."

"As opposed to the trash that I invite in?"

She looked up from the screen long enough to catch the eye roll of her partner. He huffed with a smirk before turning to shut and bolt the door behind him. Sakura had gone back to burying herself in the case file. It wasn't out of the ordinary for Kakashi to turn up unannounced, but come to think of it she hadn't exactly checked her phone in some was a dip in the sofa next to her.

"Thought you would want to know that Haku passed a polygraph."

"Mmhmm."

"Not sure yet if the kid is going to go into state care. The DA is still going through the charges for Mei." Kakashi leaned forward to get a look at the screen as well. "You were meant to be resting. You're still going over the case?"

"Something doesn't feel right. I can't explain it." Sakura stood abruptly. When she was deep in something, study or work, the proximity of any person was a distraction. She felt like the closer Kakashi got to her the further away she was from finding the truth. "It just feels messy. There has to be something that I missed, an inconsistency, something that ties everything together."

Kakashi didn't answer but there was a familiar look on his face. One that she was suddenly tired of seeing. It was a combination of pity and concern. Just because he was the more experienced detective didn't make her feelings any less valid.

"Things aren't always black and white, Sakura. You do all you can for an investigation but there isn't always an answer at the end of it."

"Don't give me that bullshit, Kakashi. You were the one who told me to follow my instincts, and right now they are telling me that I missed something."

Kakashi stood so she shifted further away.

"Of course you listen to your instincts, but you don't let it consume you, not for a case. I know that better than anyone."

"This wasn't just a case to close." Sakura couldn't control the volume or tone of her voice. "This was _my _case to close. Get it?"

"Of course I get it, Sakura. You know who you're talking to." He followed her, his tone calm and collected which only served to piss her off more. "Maybe it was too soon for you to take the lead, and maybe this was the wrong case to do it with. But it's an unfortunate truth we all face as detectives and sooner or later you will have to come to terms with it."

"So I need to stick to the nice girly murders, hm? That it? I've got news for you, Kakashi, I'm not the kind of person to let things go when they don't feel right."

Something about that finally sparked some semblance of anger within him; she could tell by the way he followed her as she paced the living room. But his voice was never angry—frustrated, perhaps—but there was no anger in the way he spoke. She couldn't bring herself to look at him, though she imagined that he was watching her with those dark and discerning eyes.

"That's not what I'm saying. Just, next time you make a promise, make it to the victim, Haruno."

Before the end of his sentence she had already turned, shaking her head wildly. Kakashi followed closely.

"I knew it, I knew you would bring that back up and lord it over me."

"I'm doing no such thing. You know better than anyone that I've made enough mistakes to be able to recognize them at least."

"This is all my fault, I get it—"

"No, it's the fault of whoever murdered Zabuza, and you know that. You're just too close to see objectively."

Kakashi stepped towards her and something snapped. He was too close for her to think clearly, too close for her to be able to keep her cool for much longer. She felt her back hit the wall and she finally looked at his face. It was impassive and not at all what she expected, which only served to irritate her further.

"This whole case, this whole fucking thing is so _stupid. _None of it makes a lick of sense."

"Murder doesn't make sense, Sakura." He took another step towards her.

"And stop saying my name like that!"

"Like what?"

"Like you being sweet is going to fix everything! Nothing can fix this, Kakashi, _nothing._ A man is dead and I have no idea who killed him. I tried my best and I failed, my first chance at lead and I failed. Tsunade would be so disappointed..." She felt her lip tremble at her aunt's name.

This case had consumed her wholly for the last three days, and now she felt all the more terrible for not once thinking to check in on her comatose aunt. It was like being kicked in the stomach after the match had already been called. If she had allowed it, the tears would have escaped. Instead she held onto them, letting them blur her vision of the world as if it might help her make some sense of it all. If Tsunade had been there, they would have known definitively who had shot Zabuza. If Sakura had been a better detective she would have been able to find out on her own. If she had been quicker she could have saved her aunt in the first place.

Sadness was a fickle emotion, able to morph into something less passive at the drop of a hat. When her vision was clear she got a good look at Kakashi's face, he twitched as if to move slowly towards her. Frustration followed quickly on the heels of sadness and it was about to claim another victim.

Sakura's eyes latched onto whatever was closest and breakable. It just happened to be that stupid puppet from the day this case had fallen from the sky and destroyed everything it landed on. In a flash the head of the puppet was in her firm grasp, a growl of frustration rose in her chest as she flung the thing across the room and to the opposite wall. The sound of breaking ceramic and thud as the pieces hit the floor echoed for a moment.

And just like that, the Molotov cocktail of emotions raging within her fizzled out in the aftermath of destruction.

Kakashi approached cautiously.

"Better?" He was close again, so close that he filled her whole vision, so close that they were touching. His knuckles came up to brush against her cheek and for a moment she felt lighter at his touch.

"Maybe a little."

"Good."

She wasn't sure if it was his intention to lean closer in to her, to rest his forehead against hers in a way that made her whole body harder to control. The intense emotions and vulnerability that had displayed themselves tonight, despite all the work she usually put into hiding such things, had brought them closer and not just in the physical sense. There was no way to control it now.

"Kakashi, I'm sorry I—"

"Shut up." He whispered to her lips. "Just, shut up, for once."

Before she could argue that the best way to shut her up was to give her mouth something better to do, Kakashi took matters into his own hands.

What started as a subdued and tentative meeting of lips escalated more quickly than Sakura could anticipate. It certainly helped to clear the remnants of misery and uncertainty that were clinging to her mind. Suddenly all that mattered was this closeness, Kakashi pressing her to that wall with his body, and lining up in all the right places against her. The heat between them was cathartic and all-consuming. But she wanted more. More of him, more of the peace and calmness that he was somehow able to exude. In an attempt to draw him even closer she wrapped her legs around his waist, and strong hands came to her backside to hold her there, not once breaking in the now urgent battle of tongues.

The pent-up frustration from not acting on urges was flowing freely now as if a dam had given way under immense pressure. It flooded and touched every inch of them in the aftermath and Sakura was content to allow herself to drown in it, in him. Kakashi wasn't going to be outdone by her bold move—with a grunt he took some steps backwards towards the sofa, still holding Sakura to his body.

With zero grace or ceremony he turned them around, all but falling onto the couch, pressing Sakura into the cushions while he continued to plunder her mouth. She wanted more, she needed more of him and whatever he was willing to give her. Just like before when they had gotten closer in that shitty sedan on that awful day, the world and all its brutalness faded away. Her hands found their way to tug at his hair, making trails along the covered muscles she'd longed to touch.

They had both been frustrated for too long, and not just about the connection between them which had foolishly been placed on hold. They were both frustrated for so many reasons: the case, the inability to work in the open, the separation as Kakashi acted as captain.

Now it was finally spilling over.

Kakashi's hands were greedy as they roamed her body. This was frenzied and without any finesse, but that only served to stoke the coiled heat in her belly. When his lips abandoned hers only to lavish her neck in a tortuously slow path, Sakura closed her eyes as she bit her bottom lip. It did little to stop the burbling groan of need as he nipped at a particularly sensitive area. When she felt his confined hardness press against her, her eyes snapped open.

Before she could coax her body to respond in the way she wanted it to, to wriggle her way closer to that delectable hardness, by chance her eyes fell onto something else.

It was the debris left by the puppet which she had smashed into small pieces.

And that was the moment her entire body froze as her mind suddenly raced to catch up with what it was seeing. Kakashi paused on top of her.

"Something wrong?"

His face came back up to hers but Sakura was no longer able to pay attention to him. Slowly she began to move, he jumped off her quickly as if he were concerned that he had caused her pain. But Sakura was not in pain, there was nothing wrong, she just needed to make sense of what she was seeing.

"Sakura, you're worrying me."

"It's hollow."

"Wha—"

"Kakashi, it's hollow!" Sakura knelt down on the floor beside the broken puppet. It's head had smashed into several pieces to reveal the nothingness within. She picked up the pieces with a smile so wide it threatened to crack her face.

"That's nice, Sakura, but if that's what you wanted you shouldn't have gotten me so damn hard."

"That shipment, Kakashi, the shipment from the Suna border. It was puppets, right?" Sakura was ignoring anything he had to say, she had to keep following that prickling instinct all the way through, she had to keep moving. In a couple of strides she made her way over to the piles of papers and research about the Kyuubi case and the Akatsuki. "The puppets were _hollow, _Kakashi! That's how they got the damn explosives across the border."

"Oh...oh!" Kakashi moved quickly, the pouting look of rejection had faded.

"Look at this." She shoved the piece of the puppet into his hand. "That's the logo for the Red Sand Company, on the _inside of the head. _The only reason you would put a freaking logo there is if—"

"—You were getting inside the head of the puppet. Sakura, you're brilliant."

"Look at the weight of the shipment—that's too heavy to only be hollow puppets. I _knew _there was something that I missed. And if these puppets were at Zabuza's circus, that means the Akatsuki were using it as a fence. Circuses order in all kinds of bizarre shit from everywhere. No one would suspect anything."

Kakashi had a look on his face that she almost considered pain, but it was familiar, it was that look when he was onto something himself. He raised a finger and went straight for the laptop on the coffee table.

"The money, Sakura. The money in the funding campaign. Where did it come from?"

Quickly she was beside him, throwing him aside so that she could bring the information up quicker.

"That's how they are laundering the money. Kakashi, you're a genius!"

"I'm only a genius if I'm right. Can you bring up the names of the donors?" Kakashi swore under his breath but Sakura continued to type and try to find the list they needed. She didn't even hear or feel his phone go off. "I better take this. Keep going."

Nothing short of a freight train through her living room was going to stop her. There was so much money in that funding campaign she should have thought to check it sooner, but there hadn't been cause to. She had wrongly assumed that it had been the hundreds of circus fans who wanted Haku to succeed in his schooling. Instead what she found was a few small, normal looking donations...and two extremely large ones.

"Gotcha," she whispered, only now realizing that Kakashi had gone to take his call in the kitchen. It was all she could do to wait until he came back into the room before she burst with the new information. "Get this, the money, Kakashi! The money came from _Kisame Hoshigaki_, he was _paying off Zabuza."_ When he didn't react to the information and continued to stare at the phone in his hand she froze in apprehension. "Kakashi, what is it?"

"It's Tsunade," he said in a foreign tone. "She's awake."


	33. Chapter 33

Kakashi had never liked hospitals. Whenever he'd had the misfortune to be admitted to one he had always found a way to discharge himself as quickly as possible. He hadn't visited Tsunade once. There was something hopeless about the place that he couldn't describe with any kind of coherency. For Kakashi it was as if there were a physical shadow over the very building, the shadow of tragedy and death.

No good had ever come from the place, and yet with Sakura beside him in the elevator he was inclined to hope. Captain Tsunade was awake. It was a good sign. They weren't here to identify a body or to pull the plug on a friend.

All the same, Kakashi still couldn't shake the feeling that Sakura was still at war with herself.

"I'm fine," she stated matter-of-factly with that uncanny mind read ability.

"Okay, but I didn't ask—"

"Yes, you were not asking, very loudly." She sighed as the elevator lurched before the doors opened with a ping. "I mean it, I'm alright, let's just check on her and fill her in on what we've found... If she's strong enough, that is."

"You think she'll have permanent damage?"

"Too soon to tell. The effects of being in a coma are wide-ranged and can be lasting. The longer someone is under the worse it can be. But that doesn't mean a full recovery can't take place. They said on the phone that she was awake and talking, right?"

Kakashi opened his mouth to answer when a door at the end of the corridor opened and answered for him. Perhaps the sound was more jarring because he hadn't heard it in some time, but Tsunade's voice seemed louder than ever. They were too far away to tell exactly what she was saying but there was no mistaking that seismic tone. When he looked to gauge Sakura's reaction he watched the smile that spread on her face before she sped ahead. Her smile had been absent for the last day at least, and Kakashi was relieved to see it back where it belonged.

He took his time as he walked down the hall, giving Sakura a moment alone with her aunt before he arrived. The closer he got the more familiar the sounds were to his ears. That baritone of Tsunade was the only constant he'd been able to rely on in the last decade and he hadn't realized just how much he had missed it until now.

Sakura was standing in the corner of the room with a nurse, a chart in her hand and a serious look on her face.

"Would you stop fussing, girl! I'll be just fine as soon as someone gets me a cheeseburger and a cigar."

"Hey now, I thought the two c's were reserved for closing cases only." Kakashi couldn't help the quip as he smiled at his Captain.

"Kakashi, I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's good to see you."

Tsunade looked a little worse for wear, maybe she just appeared smaller from where she lay in the bed, but Kakashi knew that her inner strength was still there simmering under the surface.

"Likewise, Captain." He glanced over to his partner who seemed to be in deep conversation with the nurse still and took the opportunity to sit on the edge of the bed. "You had us worried for a minute there."

"A couple weeks is not a minute, Hatake. Can you please talk some sense into Haruno and get me something to eat?"

"No, Tsunade. Your digestive system has been out of commission for so long it doesn't know how to process solids!" Sakura spat back, only to seamlessly continue her serious conversation the next second.

"I'll sneak you something later," Kakashi mumbled when he was sure Sakura couldn't hear him.

"Thanks, Hatake. I can always count on you." Tsunade sat herself up a little further, causing Sakura and the nurse to come to her side though she waved them off. "And I mean it, thank you. You saved my life. You saved the precinct."

"Well, I had a lot of help." He nodded towards Sakura. "Your niece is pretty exceptional."

Considering what had transpired earlier this evening it seemed that the well of emotions were still controlling him to some extent. He would never have said such a thing in front of Tsunade before, but now it just seemed too pale a description of all that she was. He enjoyed the fleeting dust of blush on her cheeks.

"That she is." Tsunade offered one of her seldom seen smirks of pride. "Now, tell me quickly, have you made any progress?"

"Ah, see, the thing is, we had to turn the case in its entirety over to Major Crimes. But before I shot the guy, he intimated to us that there is more than one Kyuubi Killer in action..."

"I know," she said in that infuriating know-it-all way which Kakashi hadn't missed so much. "I wouldn't think a little detail like that would stop either of you from investigating."

"Wait," Sakura interrupted. "How is it that you know those details?"

"Well, you see, you weren't my first visitor."

In the time it took Kakashi to exchange a confused look with Sakura there was a deliberate coughing noise from the doorway. He was a man whose reputation preceded him no matter where he went, and that wasn't always a good thing. Commissioner Jiraiya was a powerful man, a man of justice, but he would have rather Tsunade take the job. Something he reminded her of frequently no matter who was present.

Long ago she had run unopposed for the position, and when the death of Captain Minato shattered their world so unexpectedly, she withdrew her name from candidacy. Tsunade's former partner was called upon for the role of commissioner for his years of experience on the job. They had practically begged Jiraiya in the end, and he had accepted begrudgingly but it was no secret that he was ready to hand the job back to her as soon as she would allow it. Over the years, Kakashi had his fair share of run-ins with the Commissioner. While he was a reasonable man with all the qualifications for the job, he didn't work through conventional methods. Before Obito's death it had been a hot point of contention between them, but for the last year Kakashi hadn't cared enough to become heated about it.

Kakashi's love of doing things by the book had died along with his former partner. Now all he cared about were the results of his actions, what he could do to protect those who needed protection, and keeping Sakura alive at all costs. Doing the job right was just an added bonus these days.

So when the commissioner himself stepped into that hospital room with a brown paper bag in hand, it caused an insurgence of uncertainty for Kakashi. It was like an aftertaste of all those times he'd gone toe to toe with the man even though they were on the same side.

"Commissioner!" Sakura greeted him with a smile until she saw the bag in his hand.

"Please, call me Uncle Jiraiya. It's nice to see you, Sakura. Tsunade, I believe this is what you were after?"

The captain snatched that bag with more vigor than Kakashi would expect from someone who had been comatose for the better part of a month. Recognizing the look on Sakura's face, he made sure to stand back and out of the immediate blast zone. Watching Sakura try and pry the burger and cigar from their captain's hands was all he was willing to do. Getting in between them would surely result in bodily harm. Jiraiya was also no fool and took a large step back, falling in line beside Kakashi.

While the two women bickered, Kakashi crossed his arms and took a good look at the commissioner.

"Something tells me that you're not just here to deliver food to our lovely captain." Kakashi spoke quietly and deliberately so that Jiraiya would be the only one to hear his words.

"Nothing gets past you, Hatake. Nice to see your mind isn't aging as badly as your facial features." Jiraiya kept his face straight, and because it wasn't accompanied by the usual shit eating grin, Kakashi assumed that the man wasn't finished. "No, I'm here for business as usual. Just so happened that I got the call about Tsunade while I was on my way over to your precinct."

"Something you need to speak with me about?"

Jiraiya nodded before indicating with a jerk of his head. Kakashi stepped out of the room behind him, following quietly while Sakura continued to wrestle the cigar out of Tsunade's hand. Whatever this was about, Kakashi had a feeling of jitters, the cinders of that new lead were going to go out soon and they needed to get back to work.

The way the commissioner stood with his hands in his pockets of his raggedy brown suit gave Kakashi little confidence.

"Do you know what this Saturday is?"

Jiraiya's eyes were discerning and they narrowed as he asked the question. Perhaps Kakashi's mind was still addled from the close call he'd had with Sakura on that sofa, or perhaps he was just not willing to focus on anything that wasn't to do with the case they had finally cracked.

"Not without looking at the calendar. It's been a hell of a week."

"It's the execution date of our mutual friend, Kakashi. You really must be getting old. Thought you'd remember something as important as that."

"Says the man twenty years older than me."

"In age alone—appearance is another matter." Jiraiya combed a hand through his own crafted silver locks. "No, I know your mind is on other things, I just didn't expect you to forget a date like this."

Bitterness and frustration began to rise in his chest like bile. The physical reaction caused him to step back from Jiraiya to try and get some air to his suddenly struggling lungs. There were some wounds that time could never heal, some absences that hurt too much to be able to ignore or move on from.

"If you're asking if I'll be attending, the answer is yes." Kakashi met his stare with every ounce of disdain he could muster. "I made a promise that I would be there to see the lights go out, but nothing more. And if you think for a second that that man holds any importance in my mind, you've got another thing coming. He's worse than trash, scum that doesn't deserve to breathe the air around him."

"Calm down before your heart gives out, old man."

"Jiraiya, you're older than me, you senile piece of..."

Kakashi trailed off as the commissioner stepped forward and placed a finger to his chest. It was a powerful move; despite the man's age he was still towering over six feet, and his presence suddenly commanded the respect of his position.

"I know the wound runs deep. In fact, it was my intention to remind you." Jiraiya's hand dropped to his side. Kakashi held himself back so that the man could finish. "You at least got to bury your girl. Now think of the families that didn't get that courtesy."

Kakashi couldn't take it any longer. At least he hadn't said Rin's name aloud—it might have caused him to step forward and be violent. Instead he took steps back, he turned, he watched the elevator and decided to move at the first possible opportunity.

"I know what you're going to ask." Kakashi was suddenly aware of emerald eyes following him but it didn't matter. "I won't do it. I won't play his game again and I will not talk to him."

"Hatake, you're the only one he respects enough to speak to, you're the man who caught him."

"Caught him too late." The words came out louder than he had intended but the control was slipping away from him fast. "And at too heavy a price. Look, I get it, I know that closure is important. But I'm telling you now, no good can ever come from speaking to Hanzo Sanshouo. His games all end the same way: death. I want no part of it."

Before Jiraiya could open his mouth and change his mind, Kakashi was already pounding the button for the elevator and making his exit. There was only one place he wanted to be at that moment, only one place that called to him like a siren song for the first time in months. Maybe it would be quiet enough there for him to process his thoughts and move on so that he could get back to work. All he wanted was to get back to work. This was just a speed bump that he could choose to ignore, and he would, as soon as he was out of here and able to think.

He could move fast enough when he wanted to, and he wanted to be out of that building as quickly as his feet would allow him to move.

He hadn't forgotten the case that had launched his career; his heart would not allow him to forget. It wasn't for lack of trying—in those early days he had attempted to erase it all by whatever means necessary: alcohol, meaningless sex, case after case. It was only through taking care of Obito in the aftermath that he was able to function again himself.

Sakura didn't need this heavy weight on her now, and it was futile to think that she wouldn't try to share the burden. Though it had been said early on in their partnership, she adhered to the 50/50 rule above all others. But there were more important things she needed to be doing right now. Her mind was in the game and able to find fresh leads. Kakashi needed to clear his head before he could catch up to her.

Just one mention of Hanzo Sanshouo, the Knife Man of Konoha, and Kakashi was itching to hide those closest to him. Lock them away in a safety deposit box where they couldn't be hurt.

But Sakura was not the kind of woman to be locked away. Her mind was too powerful, as was her strength and sense of self—she truly was a force to be reckoned with. And she had just blown the case wide open. She didn't need him weighing her down.

The streets were cold but there was no way Kakashi could trust himself behind the wheel right now, so he walked the eight blocks. It passed in an overthinking blur of anxiety and thin sheets of drizzle. Such a contrasting feeling to the heat that had transpired between him and his partner earlier tonight, though it felt like an eternity had passed since then. She would probably kick his ass for leaving without an explanation, but he just didn't care. It could all wait—it would have to wait until he had his head on straight. Sakura deserved no less than his full concentration and effort.

The closer his feet brought him to those iron gates the more he lamented the passage of time. It had been so long since the Knife Man had terrorized the city. Everything that had to do with the brutalness of society happened in Konoha during those days, and now the names of the victims lay forgotten. But the name Hanzo remained renowned and feared to this very day.

The long-ago game of cat and mouse with a serial killer had cost Kakashi dearly. It had almost consumed him wholly: his mind, and his early partnership with Obito. But more than that, it had robbed Konoha of one of its finest officers, stripped him and Obito of a precious friend. It had taken many years for the both of them to recover, and things had never been the same since. To preserve what was left of their sanity, Obito and Kakashi gave up on their search for the other victims. They had removed themselves from the twisted game that Hanzo was playing.

It had been the beginning of the end. The first domino of a friend to fall before the others followed suit, and Kakashi would never forgive himself.

As he entered, Kakashi picked some of the wild lilies by the roadside. It would not do to turn up empty-handed after so long. He couldn't remember the last time he'd visited her specifically. Obito had been the one to remind him at every anniversary or birthday. That meant it had to have been over a year. She deserved more than roadside flowers, she deserved to be more than a slab of earth to retreat to so that no one would find him. As he passed the path that led to the section of the cemetery where Obito lay, Kakashi nodded as if the man himself were standing there watching and judging his tardiness. If he could go back in time and place them beside each other he would. It had been an unfortunate oversight. Just like this moment was.

He should have anticipated that Hanzo would try and get a stay of execution. To put it off by suddenly coming forth with information about where his victims lay. And while he and Obito had tortured themselves about that very issue, nothing good could ever come from keeping Hanzo alive. He was the kind of vermin who would do whatever it took to stay clinging to the earth after the bomb had gone off. He lived for that control—it was why he had killed so many, and it was why Kakashi would not waver in his decision.

Kakashi came to a stop at the familiar plot, used his sleeve to brush away some of the detritus from the headstone, and stood back with a sigh. How many times had Obito stood here beside him with tears in his eyes?

"Sorry I'm late, Rin, seems I've inherited more than just Obito's eating habits."

There were many things he wanted to tell her, about the cases he had worked, about his new partner. But it felt like a disservice to her memory as well as Obito's. So, instead, he stood with his head hung slightly and tried to calm the beating of his heart.

_Get your head on straight, there's work to do._

That's what Obito would have said, but it came out in a mixture of his voice and Sakura's. Minutes or hours may have passed, and in that time Kakashi made the decision to remain calm, to stick to his guns, and to get back to work on the case they had just broken instead of wallowing in the past.

"Thought I would find you here."

Her voice broke through the darkness like a beacon, but it was probably the street light reflecting off the pink of her hair that made her stand out.

"You could have just called, Haruno."

"We're back to that now, are we?" The question was rhetorical, she obviously didn't expect an answer as she stood beside him and looked over the granite slab. "What was she like?"

Kakashi wasn't sure on how to proceed, he wasn't sure what information Sakura had been able to wrangle from the commissioner and captain, and he wasn't sure how to answer in a way that would honor his fallen friend. But Sakura deserved honesty. She had broken the case tonight and that at least warranted the truth. He owed her as much for everything else that she did for him.

"Well, there are two kinds of cops, Haruno, when they walk into a crime scene. The first kind looks at the possible evidence to protect, reduces the risk of contamination by other officers and witnesses. And the second—"

"Let me guess, the second looks to protect everyone."

"No." Kakashi interrupted with a smirk. "No, not quite. The second will loudly exclaim that this is above their pay grade and immediately calls in the cavalry."

"Huh." Sakura knelt beside him, her eyes running over the name etched as if she were studying for an exam. Kakashi recognized that look even in the dark of night: she was trying to get information from him in her own way. "So, what kind was Rin Nohara? The first or the second?"

"Both and neither." He paused in his thoughts, tentatively placing the lilies that he hadn't realized were still clutched in his hand.

"You know that's an oxymoron and functionally incorrect."

"Killjoy. We really gotta work on getting you out and having some fun, Haruno."

"Don't you worry, I get out plenty. Now answer the goddamn question."

"It's difficult..." The words came out in a stutter despite himself. "It's difficult for _me _to describe. She was Obito's girl, his light. For lack of better words, she was to Obito what you are to me."

"That's sweet." She averted her gaze as she stood, but Kakashi was no longer watching her so closely, his own mind was struggling to catch up with words he'd never said aloud before.

"There was nothing sweet about the way she died. And now the commissioner, in his infinite wisdom, wants me to convince her murderer into disclosing the location of his other victims."

"Other victims?"

Kakashi raked a hand through his hair, paused for a moment before the horrible details left his mouth and couldn't be ignored

"22 in total, that we could get him for, but we only found 5 bodies."

"You're talking about the Knifeman..."

"The one and the same. It was one of the first cases Obito and I solved under Captain Minato. Fat lot of good it did."

"Kakashi, you got him off the street, you stopped him from killing anymore innocent people."

"I stopped him too late, Sakura."

She was too close, she was too in his face. He had forgotten where they were for the second and his voice was raised. It betrayed the calm that he had been trying to trick himself into, the calm that he would have to claw back if he wanted to proceed with the serious work they had ahead of them. He tried to pull back to collect himself but Sakura followed, keeping close despite his obvious discomfort. When he realized he couldn't escape her, he froze and closed his eyes. Timid fingers were fumbling to button his jacket. He could feel the warmth of her hands, her breath, her presence. Before he could make sense of what was happening, Kakashi found himself leaning into her and reveling in the comfort that he found with his forehead pressed against hers.

"I'm not going to tell you what to do, Kakashi, and I know I wasn't there when this happened. I have no way of knowing what you're going through." She took a deep shuddering breath as if the words were heavy in her chest and difficult to get out. "But I can imagine how not knowing would consume you, because I've seen it, I've seen what that does to you."

"I can't, I won't play his game, the devastation it caused the last time..."

"You don't need to play his game, or any game for that matter. But I can promise that this time is different."

"How so?"

"This time, you've got me." This time it was Kakashi who shuddered a sigh, Sakura seemed to breathe in his own pain and turmoil. "Just think about it. You don't even need to say anything to him. Jiraiya said you're the only person he respects enough to speak to. He said nothing about speaking back."

"I taught you well." Kakashi smirked.

"Excuse me, you taught me nothing—I'm a woman. We know a thing or two when it comes to disobeying men who think they know better."

During this exchange they had remained tethered to one another. It felt as if Kakashi were clinging to a lifeline in the wreckage of a storm. Sakura really was his light, and it hurt all the more to realize how Obito must have felt to have his snuffed out. Rin had deserved better, Obito had deserved better, Sakura... she deserved better.

Maybe he could be better for her.

"Alright, I'll think about it." He sighed heavily again. "For you."

"Atta' boy." She placed a kiss on his lips, slowly, reverently, and for a moment time really did stand still for Kakashi. It made her next sentence like a hammer that was knocking him back to Earth. "Just hurry up, because we've got work to do."

She patted his arm like an adult would do to a child, turned on her heels and began to walk back out the gates. Kakashi glanced over to the lilies adorning Rin's grave with a smile.

"She's something else, isn't she?"

"You coming or not?" Sakura shouted as she continued to walk.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming."

The thought of being in the same room as Hanzo once more set his teeth on edge and made the ghosts inside him rattle their chains, but he almost dared to believe that it would be alright, as long as that head of pink hair was still in sight.

**Authors Note;** Usually I refrain from these on ffnet, but I had someone comment that this fic should be renamed Seinfeld because nothing was happening, I am now addressing that person directly. You commented as a guest which gave me no way to reply, but I would ask that you refrain from reading my works in future. Thanks. 


	34. Chapter 34

Every red light, every crossing, and every idiot who didn't know how to indicate seemed to be out to get her on the road to the precinct. It had taken longer to get onto the highway than she would have liked, the feeling was made even worse by the distinct urgency she was feeling coursing through her whole body. The night before had been a myriad of emotion that left her head and heart reeling and scrambling to catch up.

It was supposed to calm down now that Tsunade was awake, but things had only gotten more complicated before the first light of morning. Sakura pulled into the spare lot with more speed than probably necessary, frightening some of the regular uniformed officers who happened to be standing by. But she didn't care. She slammed the door of that shitty sedan without a flinch. She'd insisted that Kakashi sleep on her couch last night, partially from a place of concern, but also from the standpoint that they could get more work done first thing in the morning.

She'd been right to be concerned. The bastard had fallen asleep immediately but was gone before sunrise without a note or text message. However, his absence wasn't the thing worrying her most right at this moment. On her way to work, she'd decided to call in on Tsunade at the hospital.

...Only to find that the woman had discharged herself for the day against doctor's orders.

_Where the fuck has everyone gone?_

All of Sakura's suspicions were answered when the elevator came to a juddering halt at the third floor. She could hear her voice before the doors even opened. But Tsunade's wrath would be nothing compared to the storm brewing within Sakura. People actually jumped out of her way as she marched to the captain's office.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Tsunade?"

It was only when she had swung the door back against the wall with a crash that she realized Tsunade had the Commissioner with her in the room. If she were any less confident in her convictions she might have swallowed thickly in fear. Instead, she narrowed her eyes to her wheelchair-bound aunt.

"Is that any way to speak to your commanding officer?"

"Bullshit, you're also my aunt. And I have it on good authority that you demanded a day pass _against _doctors' orders. So, I'll repeat, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

Tsunade was behind the desk, shuffling files around but not moving or exerting herself excessively, which was the only comforting thing about the sight. The small stack she was holding fell from her hands with a deliberate and foreboding thump. Jiraiya tried to hide a smirk behind his hand so that Tsunade wouldn't see, but was left in full view of Sakura.

"Simple, I wanted to see what state Hatake had left _my _precinct in. And if you want to continue working in it, Haruno, you'll do well to remember just who it is you answer to. Is that clear?"

Sakura managed a deathly stare despite her obedient words. "Yes, Ma'am."

"Good. You can quit grinning now, Jiraiya, or you'll be needing this wheelchair more than I do."

Her rage would not be tempered so easily. Sakura was vaguely aware that she may be taking out other frustrations on her aunt. But it was the woman's own fault for doing something so reckless. Jiraiya coughed to disguise a laugh, but Sakura interjected before he could speak.

"This may be your precinct, Aunt Tsunade, but you escaped from _my _former hospital. And it might surprise you to learn I still have some pull at Konoha General. With just one phone call I can arrange some strapping orderlies to take you back to the ward."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Try me." Sakura placed her hands on the desk and glared. She had that prickling sensation on the back of her neck. That feeling of an itch that couldn't be scratched. Instinct was telling her what Tsunade wouldn't admit to. "Don't think for a minute that I believe a word of what you're saying. There's no way you're here just to make sure the precinct is still intact. Admit it, you're here to make sure Kakashi talks to Hanzo."

"Sakura, that's not—"

"You know I expected as much shady behavior from the Commissioner, but not from you, Captain."

"Listen, Detective, you don't know the situation in its entirety, and you should check yourself before you say anything you'll regret." The look on Jiraiya's face as he spoke was solemn, something she didn't recognize in the man, making it all the more infuriating.

"Oh, I know the situation, I'm the one who gets to see first hand how this torments him. Hasn't he suffered enough?"

"No one is discounting that, Sakura, and I do not wish anything more to befall Detective Hatake. Believe me." Tsunade laced her fingers together as she spoke, adding a tenderness to her words but Sakura was too annoyed by the situation to fall for it. "And you're right. I am here to appeal to his better judgement."

"That's utter bull sh—"

"Detective Haruno, you watch your mouth when you speak to your commanding officer. You've forgotten who makes the orders around here, and I can order my detectives to do whatever I feel is necessary for justice to prevail."

"That won't be necessary, Captain." Kakashi's bored monotone came from the doorway and they all turned in shock. "Nice to see you back at your desk, the new chair befits your age."

He came to stand beside Sakura and she stepped back to take him in. He only met her eye for a second, his expression narrowed but the sparkle of mischief still remained. If she weren't in the middle of a heated argument she would have sighed in relief. Instead she ascended to a whole new level of irritation.

Just where had he slinked off to this morning? Why had he left her in the lurch without so much as a message?

Kakashi appeared clean-shaven, well-dressed: it was probably the most put together she had seen him at work since they had met. Noticing that detail lowered her anger as it piqued her curiosity all the more. He would tell her in good time, just like he always did, or she would beat it out of him. Either way she would find out just what in the hell he'd been up to.

"Good to see you, Hatake. You're wise to pick your insults at a time when I can't kick you across Konoha."

"I am first and foremost an opportunist, Ma'am."

It was also reassuring to hear the Captain and him with their usual back and forth. It was their own way of saying that they had missed each other without actually saying it. No wonder the man was emotionally stunted.

"Enlighten me, why won't the order be necessary, Hatake?" Jiraiya remained serious in his tone and expression. "I was left under the impression last night that it would take an act of force to get you to speak with Hanzo."

"What can I say? New day, new perspective." He remained aloof, but there was something about his posture that indicated to Sakura that he was about to drop the hammer. "I've made the necessary calls. An appointment has been made at the secure facility."

"That's unusually obedient of you. Has your brief stint as captain finally managed to break you in completely?" Tsunade sounded skeptical.

"Perhaps. Or perhaps it just took me a little while to work out the conditions."

"Conditions?"

"Yes, Captain. You can't expect something for nothing, after all."

Sakura's eyes darted between Kakashi and Tsunade—it was a game of verbal tennis and she had no idea who the victor would be. While she was inclined to back her partner in any situation, it didn't mean that common sense could be abandoned, and who knew what Kakashi really had in mind. His face was deliberately set with a look of determination combined with either joy or mischief, she couldn't be sure.

"You are not in a position to dictate terms, not about doing your damn job, Hatake."

"That may be true. But it's also true that you are still on sabbatical, you currently have no authority here unless I extend you the courtesy as a friend and fellow officer."

"I could just order you." Jiraiya's stern tone was betrayed by his own amusement at the situation.

"You could, Commissioner. And I'm sure you know that as acting Captain, I can respectfully decline on the grounds of endangerment to the officers of this precinct. Because if you think for a second that Hanzo doesn't have his sights on some innocent person, you are sorely mistaken, and his prime target will be anyone from the 7th."

Sakura felt entirely useless and she didn't like it one bit. She wasn't accustomed to being left out of conversations, but, as this didn't involve her directly, there wasn't anything she could do. She wasn't the one with conditions. The energy she had strided into the room with had been forcibly set to simmer and the anger was bubbling under the surface still. No doubt it would spill over onto Kakashi the second he had a chance to explain himself.

"Alright, let's hear it then." Tsunade was visibly prickled but Sakura could tell that she was also enjoying herself to some level. Otherwise, she'd have just ordered him thrown out of the office. She must have missed him.

"Thank you. I won't beat around the bush. We both have something the other wants. I'm prepared to speak with Hanzo against my better judgement, regardless of whether you agree."

"That's awfully generous of you, and in return?"

"The outcome of that talk is entirely up to you, Captain. I can go to that facility, speak with him, and then leave. Nothing will come of it, no one will get hurt, and no games will be played. Or, I can get the location of his victims, and if I do, you'll give back the Kyuubi Killer investigation."

Sakura had to hold back a smirk at his words and the attitude he was displaying. Something like a puffed up peacock that was trying to appear demure with its feathers... and failing. If it weren't such a serious situation she might have scoffed out loud at his actions. Trust Kakashi to find a way to get the case back and disguise it as a favor for someone else.

"You think I'll just hand you the investigation back after it gathered dust on your desk for almost a year?"

Tsunade was attempting to goad Kakashi and she knew it. Except the intended target appeared as nonchalant as ever. Sakura wanted to stamp her feet, to scream and yell, to defend Kakashi. He had spent that year of torment gathering every shred of evidence that he could on the dormant case until it had finally risen from the depths.

Just as she opened her mouth to unleash the rebuttal, Kakashi silenced her.

"I never said I wanted you to hand the case back to _me." _All eyes were on him, wide with shock. "On the contrary, I simply want the case to be given to the best detective for the job. Someone who actually has a shot at bringing the whole thing to a close before any more people fall victim."

"And who is the best detective for the job in your opinion, Hatake?"

"Why, Sakura, of course."

It was an odd sensation, not knowing what was happening though she was right in the middle of it, and Sakura didn't like it one bit. Her jaw may have even dropped a fraction visibly. Her mind was overwhelmed with an onslaught of questions and she didn't know where to begin. It was unsettling to have all eyes on her when she had been so unprepared for the situation. There was a nagging and disturbing thought that perhaps Tsunade and Jiraiya would think that _she _had orchestrated this. That _she_ had been the one to encourage her partner to take such rebellious action. This time she began to form words to defend herself and not her partner, but again she was beaten to the punch.

"I think we can agree to those terms." Tsunade and Jiraiya were nodding at each other, looking completely normal and unrattled.

"Wha—"

"Just like that? No questions? I had a whole speech prepared about how she single-handedly made breakthroughs on the case."

"I'm sure it's quality content, Kakashi, but save it for when I have the time. Better yet, you can tell Sakura on your way to the secure facility. Dismissed."

"Oh, I get it now, you don't think I'll be able to find the victims. That it?" Kakashi looked every bit as smug as he sounded. Sakura was still too shocked to speak or move, otherwise she might have clipped him in the rib cage with a fist. Tsunade smirked.

"You're not the only opportunist, Hatake."

"You were always betting on the wrong horse, Captain. C'mon, Sakura, we've got work to do." Kakashi turned and was halfway out the door before he acknowledged Jiraiya with a nod. Sakura was torn between explaining that she had nothing to do with it to her captain and chasing after her partner. "Haruno! We've got an appointment, get a move on!"

She had never heard Kakashi speak in such a way. Not even in his role as acting captain had he commanded so much authority with a simple order. It prompted her to start moving after him. He was waiting for her by the elevator with a few other people, so her bubbling questions would have to wait until they were alone in the sedan. They were weighing on her mind so heavily it felt like an eternity before the elevator lurched to life. With each question that came to mind so too did a measure of inadequacy that she couldn't seem to shake.

Why would Kakashi think she was the best detective for the job? Did that mean solo work without him? It was something they had agreed to never do when it came to the Kyuubi killer and Akatsuki. Did that mean he didn't want to work with her anymore? Had her solo stint on Zabuza's murder tarnish his view of her so completely?

Sakura liked to think she knew her partner well enough by now to gauge his trust in her at least. But without the answers she needed her mind was left to spiral.

Why had Tsunade agreed to this so readily? Because she was the right person for the job or because it was so outlandish that it could never happen?

By the time they finally came to a stop at the ground floor Sakura's mind was in a perfect state of despair. If Kakashi had been speaking to her this entire time she would not have noticed. She chanced a glance at his face only to find that annoyingly handsome smirk brimming with mischief, which only soured her stomach further. This whole partnership was built on the basis of 50/50 from the very beginning, and for the first time Sakura was beginning to doubt Kakashi's motives.

She beat him to the sedan, slamming the door and waiting with heavy breaths. Her eyes were narrowed as he slid into the driver's seat.

"Sorry about—ow!"

Sakura had interrupted him with a jab to the upper arm.

"What the hell did you just do, Kakashi? Why?"

"Just..." He caught her arm as she came in for another whack. "Just give me a second to apologize and explain. Please?"

"Fine." She spat the word, unable to look at his simpering face of feigned sweetness. "You have one minute before I start aiming lower."

"Okay, well, last night while I was on your couch in your apartment I realized something. That lead you discovered, the hollow puppets, there's no way we can actively investigate it without going through proper channels. And the only way to do that is to get the case back. And then I remembered something you said. Several things, in fact."

"Flattery will get you another thirty seconds, go on."

"When you first saw the Kyuubi evidence, you said that another pair of eyes on it might help: _your_ eyes, to be specific. And you were right. But this applies to Hanzo's case as well. I didn't have your skill set before, I didn't have...you. I think that's going to make all the difference."

When he didn't say anything further, Sakura broke the silence.

"That's all very well and good, Kakashi, but that doesn't explain why you would want the whole investigation to be handed over to _me. _The same detective who couldn't even discern which person shot Zabuza Momochi. I'm not good enough to take it on by myself..."

"Sakura. You're good enough. You're... you're better than me. You were right, I rush in and think later, handle the consequences as they arise instead of looking at ways to prevent them like you do. You're the best woman for the job, and you'll never be alone." Kakashi tentatively reached over to place a hand on hers. "Rest assured, I'll be right beside you for back up, and nothing short of a bullet is going to stop me."

Suddenly without an express answer, she knew exactly why he had left so early this morning, why he was well-dressed and put together. He wanted to be on top of his game for what they were about to deal with. And he wasn't just doing it for the case, he was doing it for her. For the moment she decided to forgive him.

"You can't charm your way out of a bullet, Kakashi Hatake."

"We use the tools we were born with. Charm just happens to be one of mine."

She eased into the physical contact with a sigh. Some feelings were fickle, and when it came to cutthroat professions, they were even harder to quash completely. But there was one thing she could always rely on, and that was Kakashi. Even if she didn't approve of his method of choice and leaving her in the dark for so long.

"Alright. So what's the plan with Hanzo?"

He relinquished her hand and started the sedan.

"You've proven that you can think outside the box and get a step ahead. If you can find out the inner workings of the Akatsuki, I have no doubt that together we can get ahead of this psycho."

"I'm not familiar with the case though. You didn't bring the files?"

"Anything you want to know is in here." He pointed a finger to his temple.

There was a pause as Kakashi pulled out into traffic. Weaving through the streets of Konoha to get to the freeway, Sakura wanted to extinguish any lingering feelings of doubt before she came face to face with the former Knife-man of Konoha. The infamous serial killer who terrorized the city and forced young women indoors.

"Do you really think we can do this?" The thought drifted from her lips without her express permission.

"Yes."

"No, not this, what I mean is... do you really think _I _can do it? Can I really lead the take down of the Akatsuki? The other Kyuubi killer?"

"Yes. I mean it, Sakura. Emphatically. You _will _do it, and I'll be right here to bask in your glory like the kept man I deserve to be."

For the first time that morning she found herself laughing. The overwhelming urge to hug him tightly was also new and sudden, but they had a job to do, and the job always came first. There was at least an hour's drive before they reached wherever Hanzo was being held before his execution. Add onto that the time it would take just to get through security, and it gave them a little under two hours to review every detail, and Sakura wanted to know _every _detail.

Everything was bothering her just a little less than it was before. Even Kakashi's driving was more tolerable. It normally took every ounce of her concentration to keep the genuine terror at bay, and maybe it was because her focus was on the case at hand, but she was able to withdraw her notebook.

"Okay, let's start at the beginning. What are the details of his upbringing and family background?"

"Let's see, from what I remember, Hanzo was an orphan from an early age. From there he was a ward of the state of Amegakure until he enlisted in the army. We don't have a lot of knowledge of what went on in those early years, but it doesn't matter anyway. When we finally caught him, he was on the wrong side of forty, unmarried, and working as a repairman."

"I thought you said all the details were 'up here,' Kakashi. I want the details of the profile so I know exactly what we're walking into."

They were waiting at a red light and Kakashi was able to turn his head and give her a scrupulous look. How he managed to put all that emotion into just his eyes she would never know. Now that she was more familiar with the sharp curves and lines of his face, she knew that she only needed to see his eyes to know.

For some reason he was holding back information.

"Sakura, a lot of experts had a hand in this case. Anbu profilers, psychiatrists, you name it. But I'm not interested in repeating their opinions to you, because it's _your _opinion I want the most. And I want it unsullied by the words of the so-called experts."

Sakura was stunned into a silence for a moment until the sedan started moving again.

"I'm unsure if that was a complement or a ploy to get out of remembering the details in that file."

"That's exactly what I'm talking about, nothing gets past you."

She averted her gaze to the window so that he wouldn't see her smile. A few short weeks ago she'd have asked him to spare her the platitudes. But after the morning she'd had, and the last week of dissatisfaction, it was nice to hear him speak so positively.

The basics of the case were infamous. Hanzo Sanshouo, the Knife Man of Konoha, the man who had terrorized the city all those years ago. It was a time when women were encouraged to travel in packs because of the madman hunting indiscriminately for his next victim. By having a medical degree, Sakura's time at the academy was halved, but even she had studied this case briefly. The classic serial killer. Stalking and hunting within plain sight. They used Hanzo's case to teach a lesson that all officers had to learn.

Sometimes, and she almost shuddered at the thought, serial killers didn't make enough mistakes to be caught. Sometimes only one would have to be enough.

There were plenty of case studies where the kills got sloppy and rushed. Except in the case of Hanzo, who only seemed to get _better _with each victim. Leaving next to no evidence. Until eventually one brilliant detective managed to bring him in. Sakura cut her musings short, deciding to ask the man himself.

"How did you finally catch him, Kakashi? I know it was a traffic violation or something, but for someone so good at not making mistakes, it still seems pretty extraordinary that you managed it."

It seemed as if he were concentrating on the road but she knew he was searching for the right words. After a moment's pause they finally came out.

"Well, even back then, I wasn't strictly on my own. The whole of Konoha's police force was out there looking for him, with each victim I kept telling myself that it was just a matter of time. That was until... Until Rin."

"Rin Nohara, was she your partner?"

"No, not exactly. She was a rookie detective at the 7th. But, more than that she was my friend." Kakashi cleared his throat but not out of intense emotion. It seemed to Sakura that this may be the first time he'd ever spoken about it to another person, though she could be wrong. The short sentences gave him away. "To Obito she was more than that. She was everything, and after she died he took himself off the case."

"That must have been hard."

"We got through it. When I wasn't working on it I was taking care of him. When he would let me. Deep down I'm still convinced that he blamed me for her death. He was right to think it."

"This from the same person who told me not to blame myself, but to blame the person who pulled the trigger? No, I don't believe it."

"I lost her, it was my fault. We followed a lead, split up to search the area, by the time I turned around she was already gone."

"I dismiss the charges, Kakashi Hatake." Sakura put an arm on his shoulder to relieve the rising tension.

"It was me, Sakura. But I've made peace with my failings. You can't win them all. Perhaps if I'd had you back then things would have been different. But after that I put my head down, worked night and day, followed every lead, chased every call. I did the only thing I knew how to do. Worked my ass off until I found something that we almost missed."

"The vehicle?"

"That's right. We only found 5 of his victims, in those first few cases we found a series of tire tracks that didn't make any sense to me at the time. Later I worked out that the car had four different types of tire attached, and the prick changed them with each murder."

"So that was how you got him? Looking for a car with four different tires?"

"Not quite. That would have been a bit like looking for a needle in an ocean."

"I'm pretty sure that's not how the saying goes, y'know."

Kakashi scoffed.

"Killjoy, let me be poetic every so often, Haruno. Anyway, while combing through a million witness reports of the abductions of the other victims, the ones we didn't find, I found something. A woman reported that the vehicle, an SUV which was seen speeding away, had a broken taillight."

"You're kidding."

"Nope. So, on a whim, I issued an APB for an SUV with a broken taillight and four different types of tire attached. A long shot. He was so meticulous I figured the taillight would have been fixed. But after a week I got a call that someone had been brought in."

Sakura was more than enamored with the details of the case. Admiring the work and focus of her partner despite his losing a friend. But she couldn't help thinking of the other factors of the case, the personal ones that weren't exactly pertinent.

"And Obito?"

"Came back with the sole purpose of putting Hanzo away for all the cases we were sure he was involved with. He was a man obsessed, we both were. The games didn't really start until Hanzo was in custody. He'd taunted us for years by killing and taking innocent women, snatching Rin right from under our noses. The only power he had left was in tormenting us with details, riddles, and hiding his other victims from us. Once Yamato tore that car apart, and his house, we had enough to put him away. For a long time that wasn't enough for Obito, he wanted to find the others..."

"But you stopped looking..."

"No, we just stopped playing his games. It did more harm than good."

Kakashi fell silent as he no doubt reflected on everything he had spoken about. Sakura held herself back from asking anymore questions about Yamato's involvement. It all seemed too tender for her to probe into. She was grateful for any and all information that he was willing to give her, and while sometimes that needed coercion, now was not the time.

Hanzo hadn't just shaken Konoha with his vile deeds, he had rocked the very foundation of all that Kakashi held dear. His partnership, his friends. It would have destroyed a lesser man, and suddenly Sakura was acutely aware of why Obito's passing had broken him so utterly. It was survivor's guilt. The very reason that one of the only pictures hanging in his apartment was of his fallen comrades.

They sat in comfortable silence until they reached the facility parking lot. She might have imagined the deep shuddering breath Kakashi took before he shut off the engine. She was too busy gathering her own thoughts to notice. It wasn't until she reached for the handle that she turned to regard her partner. His eyes lifted from the steering wheel to meet hers. They were dark and serious.

"If we're going to do this, we're going to do it right. We're going to win."

"You got it."

"Sakura, I need you to listen, observe as much as you can. Do you trust me?"

"Of course I do."

"Good. Because I need you to do one more thing for me."

"As long as it's legal..."

"I need you to _only _observe. Do not engage with him at all costs. That's what he will want and I'll be fucked if he's getting _any _modicum of satisfaction out of this interaction. I promise, I'm not benching you, I need you to see the things that I don't, but above all else I need you to stay safe. Before you rip me apart just hear me out—"

"It's fine."

"Wait, what?"

"Kakashi, it's fine." Sakura fought the impulse to laugh at his stunned look. Something as rare and fleeting as a solar eclipse. "We've always been in this 50/50. It's your turn for interrogation anyway."

She didn't give him a chance to reply, opening the door and standing in the fresh air. The momentary relief was cut short by the dark and rising shadow of the facility beside them. It was foreboding, and it mirrored the terror she was trying to quell. The idea of being in close vicinity to Hanzo was suddenly giving her cause for concern.

What would it be like to look into the eyes of pure evil?

She had come close to it with Sasuke, _that _she believed with every fiber of her being, but even his crimes weren't as despicable as Hanzo's. Mizuki, the man who had defleshed the woman he claimed to love after killing her, he had that look as well. But this was going to be different.

Kakashi slammed the door to the sedan and shook her out of her thoughts.

"Let the games begin…" He muttered under his breath as they walked towards the dark entrance.

**Authors Note/ Again, I hate to leave these on ffnet but I feel the need to address a few issues.  
I am considering moving this fic, and my others, exclusively to A03. Half of the reviews I receive on this site are abuse and to be honest I'm tired of it. **


	35. Chapter 35

The last time Kakashi had maneuvered these halls Obito had been at his side. They had visited Hanzo one final time in the hopes of gaining new information, though he had offered only mind games. Finally, at the behest of Captain Minato, who was observing their fractured partnership close hand, they decided to let it rest. It wasn't worth the toll it was taking. They weren't getting anything useful from the man himself. Any leads would have to come from entirely new sources.

It was just a shame that they had dried up long ago.

This time would be different. Kakashi was sure of it. If Hanzo didn't offer the information freely, then Sakura would find something just like she always did. Or maybe _he_ would even find a lead. For today anyway, he had to remain positive, for himself and for Sakura.

_The leads are there somewhere in the dust. If I can't brush it off, I'm sure Sakura will smash through it._

All morning he had been psyching himself up for this encounter. He was not the same detective who had lost Rin in the field all those years ago, he was not the same cocky bastard that had something to prove to the chip on his shoulder. They had the technology to do more in a day forensically. Things that had taken weeks and months now could be done in hours. Even less if Yamato was on the job.

"Are you going to call Yamato?" Sakura asked while they were signing in, that uncanny mind reading ability prevalent even when they were about to enter a high pressure situation.

"And why would I do that?"

"Because he helped you with the original case, because he would want to know what's going on, because you're friends..."

"Colleagues, Sakura, at best..."

"Because it's the right thing to do."

She wasn't saying what he was thinking—that they may need his help later—as usual, Sakura was thinking of the consequences of their actions before he'd even considered it. It would be kind to give Yamato a bit of warning before digging up this ancient case from the past that had exhausted them all beyond belief.

A couple months ago he would have argued with her, or at least pretended to argue before begrudgingly accepting that she was right. They didn't have time for that right now. They didn't have time for any mistakes. Sakura was preventing them before they even appeared.

"I wonder what it's like, to always be right about everything..."

"You get used to it. No one will watch movies with me anymore though."

Kakashi had grown fond of the way her lips pouted sometimes. Usually her expression was so crafted and concentrated. It was nice to see that facade was relaxed around him now, although arguably this was probably the worst possible time for that to happen. Hanzo was capable of taking any emotion and twisting it for his own amusement, playing it against whoever else happened to be in the room, creating fear and doubt...

He would have to say something to her before they faced him.

With all the required paperwork signed off, weapons and phones surrendered to the clerk, Kakashi expected to head down the same hallway he'd travelled long ago. Turning to face the secure doors, he was surprised to see someone there, waiting. A tall man with fair hair and a lab coat that gave away his profession before the identification badge at his chest came into view.

"Detective Hatake, it's a pleasure to finally meet you." He extended his hand with a smile.

"Likewise, I'm sure, and you are?"

There didn't seem to be an excuse acceptable enough not to shake the hand offered to him.

"Apologies, I am Dr. Yamanaka, Inoichi Yamanaka. I'm the attending psychiatrist for Hanzo here at the facility."

"I see. This is my partner, Detective Sakura Haruno." Sakura was proffered the same hand to shake, which she did with a smile and politeness. "Is he being held in the same cell?"

"Yes, he is. I was wondering if I may escort you, Detective. There is something I wish to discuss."

Kakashi resisted the urge to quip that he didn't exactly have much of a choice in the matter. Instead he nodded and proceeded after Dr. Yamanaka. Exchanging a quick glance with Sakura he determined that she felt similarly.

_This is strange._

Whenever he and Obito had visited the staff had practically left them to their own devices. Escorted by an unwilling orderly at best through the sterile white halls. There wasn't a lot of time to spend on the cops who had taken so long to put a serial killer behind bars. Perhaps the tides had changed in his favor. Except he couldn't help but think that there was something that the doctor wanted from him instead.

"Haruno, that name is familiar. You wouldn't happen to be related to Dr. Haruno?"

"That would be my former profession, Dr. Yamanaka."

"I see, I wondered why I hadn't seen any new articles from you. That piece you did on the disproportional connections between the central and peripheral nervous systems was very well written. It surprised me that you never made the jump to neurosurgery."

"She made a much more substantial leap if you ask me." Kakashi hadn't meant to sound so rude but he was impatient to get to the point. To get all the information he could before they faced Hanzo. "But you aren't here just to get on the good side of my partner, are you, Doctor?"

Sakura seemed unfazed, she knew what kind of pressure they were facing, and she knew not to trust anyone until they had proven themselves. Not within the systems of Konoha anyway.

"Yes, that's right, Detective. Forgive me, Hanzo talks about you so often that I feel like I know you."

"It's hard to forget the cop that put you away I imagine."

"Not like that, I'm afraid." Inoichi continued to accompany them through the halls and various security doors. It was faster getting past with him there, but Kakashi just wanted him to get to the point already. "He speaks of you almost like a friend."

The words weren't overly surprising, Hanzo had often praised his work in catching him, though he still claimed to have won overall by keeping the rest of his victims hidden. There was a certain chill to the thought that he had spent all these years talking about him. It made Kakashi wonder just what else he'd planned behind bars all these years.

Kakashi jolted, feeling a sharp elbow to his ribcage. He turned to question Sakura without words but her face was impassive.

_He's just trying to get in your head again, Bakashi. She's right._

If he had been by himself he'd have argued that it was impossible for her to be right when she hadn't said anything. Somehow, Sakura had managed to enter his very brain to predict his movements as well as reading his thoughts. It almost gave him the impression that she and Obito were working together behind his back and beyond the grave.

It was just like Hanzo to pepper information to a third party in the hopes of distracting Kakashi from whatever his actual motive may be. Building an image in the eyes of the doctor for his own purposes. Perhaps to get out of any actual rehabilitation work, to make himself seem normal. Kakashi suspected it was most likely that the psychopath just liked the sound of his own voice.

"Funny, he wasn't so friendly the last time I questioned him."

"It's not unusual for a homicidal personality to form a... bond or fixation on the person that finally put a stop to their behaviors. While most of Hanzo's emotions are superficial or absent entirely, this seems to be genuine." Inoichi punched the codes into more heavy security doors as he spoke. "He's put you up on a pedestal, Detective Hatake, you are the man who did what no other could. In the years since you last spoke the obsession has grown exponentially. Though for the most part Hanzo has remained impervious to any psychological testing, when it comes to you… well he lights up"

Initially Kakashi had written off this doctor, and the prattle that he spouted, as nonsense. Anything that he had to say was part of the game, a ruse, a distraction. But with each step they took together he had to begrudgingly accept that the man wasn't on Hanzo's side. That was where the true issue lay. This wasn't about the clinical psychiatrist trying to stump him. He was trying to help, and to get help in understanding the man as was his job.

One look sideways at Sakura's face seemed to confirm Kakashi's thoughts.

_After all, she'd have definitely said something if he was wrong._

"Do you think he'd be more willing to divulge information now?"

It was hard not to notice the semblance of a smirk on Dr. Yamanaka's face.

"Whether Hanzo Sanshouo will comply with anyone else's designs is not something I can determine. He still feels that compulsive need to be in control. But I do know he will want to talk with you, specifically."

"This time it will be on my terms." The words slipped out of his mouth before he could check them. His body and his mind were getting ready for the fight to come.

"Will you be going in as well, Detective Haruno?"

Sakura's eyes drifted to Kakashi but she said nothing so he felt the need to answer for her.

"Yes, she will."

"I see, you'll have your own expert with you then. I wanted to warn you that Hanzo will say or do anything to get out of his own executions. But I think the both of you will handle him just fine." They had come to a stop in another white corridor, standing in front of a single door. Through the solitary window two guards could be seen on the other side. "Good luck, Detectives."

With a few curt nods the doctor turned and left. Kakashi remembered how the high security chambers worked. Two safe rooms with two guards in each. Both of them entrusted with half of the code required for the doors to open to the next room. All he needed to do now was knock.

"You know, Haruno, you didn't have to go completely silent on me just yet. You could have answered the doctor."

"Just getting into the zone, Hatake."

"You trust what he had to say?"

She had this way of tilting her head when she was especially smug that was as infuriating as it was adorable.

"To tell you the truth I wasn't listening very closely. You said you wanted _my _opinion, not the retelling of someone else's."

Kakashi smiled for a brief moment before knocking on the door. She was ready, she was smarter than he had been at her age and rank, she was his secret weapon.

The guards regarded them briefly before one phoned in on the walkie talkie.

"You scared?" He wasn't sure what prompted him to ask the question. It must have been intuitive or the subtle change of her breathing rhythm.

"No." She grew visibly angry with his stare of disbelief. "Why should I be afraid of a caged animal in the zoo?"

"Nice burn. I'll have to remember to use that one."

"Besides, I've got you with me. There's no reason to be scared. You're only asking me because I'm a girl, y'know, you're lucky I'm not in the mood to kick your ass all the way back to the precinct."

Kakashi could hear the guards punching in the codes on the keypad through the door but he took his chance anyway. Grabbing her wrist and looking her dead in the eye.

"Sakura, I'm not asking if you're scared because you're a girl. I'm asking because that is exactly the kind of shit Hanzo will pull to get inside your head. He will use any emotion he can pick up on to get to you. To hurt you in ways that may not have consequences in the moment, but it will fester, until one day you're the only one left of your original squad."

There was a flicker of recognition in her eyes before she nodded a fraction and he relinquished his grip. The door opened to the receiving area where they were patted down again by guards. They weren't even going to be on the same side of the glass as Hanzo but every precaution needed to be taken and Kakashi understood.

"He's on the other side of that door, huh." Sakura had never been in this kind of facility before. The last stop before the lethal injection. Kakashi was glad that the strict measures had not been lifted despite his impending death.

"He is." It was almost show time. "Listen, Sakura, no matter what I say or do in there-"

"I know, I know. Don't say anything."

"Don't try to stop me."

If they had been anywhere else Kakashi might have momentarily admired that look of confusion on her face. The way her brow creased despite the way she had trained her expression. But he couldn't look at her right now. His eyes were forward as the final door opened.

_This time we beat him._

Before them was a small lobby with an observation window of the cell where Hanzo was being kept. There were speakers attached to either side to be able to hear each other. Security dictated that absolutely no one visiting would be able to have physical contact with the man. He just couldn't be trusted. Sakura had been right, he was a caged animal in a zoo, but the trail of devastation he had left had ensured the extra security measures.

"Here he is, the man himself."

Kakashi was taken aback at the words, for they hadn't come from Hanzo. Another man was in the observation room with them.

"Yudachi. That's enough for today."

"Detective Hatake." Yudachi held out a hand to shake which Kakashi ignored. "I would love to sit down with you sometime for an interview."

"_Yudachi. Leave." _The words were spat as Hanzo stood and came into view for Kakashi. That tone was one he remembered. One of control and fear. It had the desired effect as Yudachi left the room without another word or glance in his direction. Leaving Kakashi and Sakura alone with Hanzo Sanshouo. "Forgive his rudeness. The kid is writing a novel about me and has taken certain liberties which are regrettable."

His appearance hadn't changed that much for Kakashi's eyes. Still that same shoulder length hair and demonic look about his eyes. He wasn't malnourished or gaunt. Hanzo looked exactly the same as he had all those years ago. For a second Kakashi caught his own reflection in the glass and realized that _he _was the one who had changed the most. He had the physical and emotional scars to prove it.

"Hanzo. I would say it's good to see you, but I'll reserve that comment for Saturday's event."

_Nice, Bakashi._

Kakashi leaned with his back against the wall, pretending to ignore the subtle smirk from Hanzo. It was something he'd longed to wipe off his face permanently.

"I've been expecting you, Detective Hatake. I thought you would turn up sooner if I'm honest, but still, here you are. The years haven't been kind to you, have they? The scar's a nice touch." Hanzo's stare was scrupulous as always, penetrating, but Kakashi didn't feel like it was getting to him this time. "You've got a new one too. She's much prettier than her predecessor. Hope she lasts longer, right Kakashi?

The comment was meant to goad him, to tempt him into breaking the facade of calm. It was a dart of poison and Kakashi had to make sure it didn't break the skin this time.

"What do you want, Hanzo?"

Kakashi rummaged through his jacket pocket, appearing entirely disinterested in anything going on around him.

"It's not about what _I _want. It's about what you want, _desperately_. It's why you're here."

"Nope. Not this time." Kakashi found what he was looking for, withdrawing the pack of cigarettes and matchbox. This was the part he was sure Sakura would object to, but she remained silent, as did Hanzo. Waiting as he lit the cigarette pursed in his lips. "The only thing I want is to watch you die on Saturday. But I have my orders, so I'm here. Doesn't mean I have to do shit."

He had neglected to tell Sakura that he'd arranged for the smoke detectors to be off in this part of the building. He was reluctant to look at her right now, to see that tinge of disapproval she would be trying to hide. But this was a game he had prepared for.

"Tsk tsk, Detective, smoking is so unbecoming. That stickler for the rules really has been beaten down by the years."

"Actually, it's Lieutenant now."

Kakashi met him in the eye as he corrected him before blowing smoke against the glass. Hanzo remained impassive for just a moment, it was that terrifying blank stare of rage which had been the last sight of so many of his victims. And that was how Kakashi knew it was working. A grin slowly spread on Hanzo's face, one that had been forced to look normal but chilled the very air around them.

"Congratulations are in order then, I was unaware of your promotion, you should have told me sooner. Keeping secrets isn't something I'd expect from you."

Kakashi straightened and stood directly in front of Hanzo.

"Well, what you can expect, is that I'll see you on Saturday. Front row center. To watch you die."

That grin remained unwavering on his face but Kakashi kept his focus on meeting that stare.

"Yes, that I know. People often seem to die around you, Hatake. We're more alike than you think. I wonder if you enjoy it as much as I did."

There it was, the venomous bite he'd been expecting. But over the years a tolerance had been built for it, and now it held none of the kick as it might've in the past. There was no pain this man could inflict on him now that he hadn't already survived through. It was cocky, it was presumptuous, but it was the truth beyond a shadow of a doubt. He may not be invincible, but he was smarter now.

And he had a secret weapon by his side.

With a small smile, Kakashi took a long drag before dropping the spent cigarette to the floor and stamping it out. Not once did he break that eye contact.

"See ya later, Hanzo."

He turned and headed towards the door, trying not to look at Sakura too much in case it broke the illusion that he was trying to create. At a glance her own face was impassive and as he reached the door she simply cast her eye toward it. Kakashi knocked for the guards, waiting for the fish to bite.

"You're really going to leave with 'see ya'? Without a single question?"

"My superiors ordered me to talk with you, and I fulfilled my end. We both know how this plays out, and I just don't care. I'm removing myself from the game. I'll see you on Saturday."

His hand was on the handle as the door cracked open before he felt the hook sink in. There had been no need to elaborate, and there was no way he would tell Hanzo the truth of the matter.

"But Kakashi, there is something in my possession that your superiors may be interested in." He sounded magnanimous despite being the one held in a cage.

"Don't bullshit me, Hanzo. The only thing in your possession is a jumpsuit and a steel cot." Kakashi pulled the door open, hiding his face in case it gave away the sudden excitement he felt. There was a tingling up his spine. Never before had Hanzo offered information and it was as foreboding as it was exhilarating.

"I'll tell you where it's hidden."

The words hung in the air. They froze Kakashi in his tracks. He had to remind himself to steal his nerves, to train his expression again before he turned. When you've got the winning hand you don't give it away until the last possible moment. That's what Tsunade needed to learn, he made a mental note to tell her later.

Kakashi made a show of slamming the door shut and storming up to the reinforced glass.

"I don't give a fuck where it's hidden, or what it is."

"But you are obligated to investigate, are you not? Or have all the rules changed completely since I saw you last? I'm sure your pretty partner could tell us. She'd be a proper detective I imagine, she'd follow procedure. Maybe you should send her off instead..."

Kakashi rolled his eyes.

"Who said she's a detective, hmm? You know nothing, Hanzo."

"There are things that I do know that you _would kill to find out. _Why don't you just go take a look."

"And what would you be getting out of this?"

_That's it. Stay bored. Stay monotone._

"All I ask, a simple request from a dying man, that if you like what you find... you'll bring it here, to show me. I would like to take a look at it myself a final time before I die."

_Keep it simple, don't get into extra detail, that's what he wants._

"Where?"

"I'm sure you're familiar with the cabin that once belonged to my dear friend Kagari."

"Vaguely."

"Don't jest, Kakashi. That brain of yours still holds every detail and we both know it." It was scary how sometimes Hanzo made sense with his twisted logic. It was scary how normal he could appear and sound before he turned. "In the stairwell cupboard you'll find a loose plank, the third one from the ceiling, inside it is a cavity where I kept various items of interest."

_Gotcha._

Kakashi refused to say another word to the man, he turned and barreled his way out of that room like a bull from the gate. Sakura was beside him. There was only silence as they navigated the hallways and guards back to the entrance. Knowing Sakura, she would wait until they were alone in the sedan before she would allow any talk about what had happened. He was half expecting a lashing for the smoking, but at this second he was too pleased with the results of that meeting to be worried.

He had calculated every move, and while Hanzo thought they were entangled in the usual game of chess, only Kakashi knew the truth of it. They weren't playing chess at all. They were playing checkers, and Kakashi had rigged the board himself.

The fresh air and sunlight hit his skin. The building even seemed less drab and imposing than before.

_Calm it down now, we're just getting started._

It was Sakura's turn to drive but he found himself sitting in the drivers seat anyway. When she was safely sitting next to him, with both doors shut, he finally dared to regard her properly. Her face gave away nothing. She was simply observing him similarly with perhaps a hint of a smile on her face.

"You played him better than Genma played the coffee cart girl."

Her quip broke the silence and the last of his facade, he conceded to smile.

"My acting _is _far superior to his. I still find it ridiculous that she even believed he was the Captain, let alone for a whole month."

"Yeah, but how many free coffees did you both get out of it?"

"30."

The tension snapped, Kakashi found himself laughing quietly as Sakura joined in. The serious talk would come soon but for now he was allowing a moment of joy and success amongst the chaos. They had survived the confrontation with the big bad wolf and come away with something. Kakashi had no doubt it was by Hanzo's design whatever this thing turned out to be, and he'd make sure that Hanzo thought that as well. But he had just gotten the first piece of voluntary information from him in a decade. For nothing.

He was 1 up.

Sakura broke his reverie as she opened the glove box, retrieving a small pack of peppermints before throwing them at Kakashi's head.

"Please eat those before you open your mouth again. I can still smell the smoke."

"I was waiting for that." He complied with her orders. "It worked better than I had intended."

"It was excellent, amazing work, Kakashi. Truly." Praise from her was the best kind, it was so few and far between he knew it to be sincere, there were no false platitudes. It was refreshing and ego boosting all at once. He was going to enjoy that for the time being as well. "Not only did you shatter the perception of you he expected to see, you tricked him into thinking he had control, that you didn't want the information."

"It occurred to me last night at your apartment, every time Obito and I tried to get information, he _knew _that's why we were there. The ball was in his court without us even knowing. He was never going to give us what we wanted."

"But to make him think you no longer cared about getting anything from him you had to appear completely different."

"Exactly. I might be lazy and a completely useless acting captain, but I'm still a pretty decent detective. If he thinks I'm rusty or that I've given it up for a desk job, that just gives us the advantage."

Their eyes met and a smile shared between them. She was steadfast in her support of this case just as he had supported her through Zabuza's homicide. The plan may backfire still, this was the first time he'd ever planned tactics ahead of time by himself. But with both of them together he was sure they could handle whatever came up.

"Where do we go from here?" She asked with just the slightest tinge of worry.

"He was right about one thing, I do remember those case details off by heart. Kagari's cabin isn't far from here. He's long dead and the building is now empty. But we can check it out today, I'll call in back up first, then I would really like to hear your opinion, Sakura."

That smug little flicker on her features was enough to tell him he was off the hook for smoking in front of her. He just hoped Tsunade would be as forgiving when she heard about it later. Just because she was wheelchair bound she would probably still find a way to kick his ass.

The drive would take at least an hour, forty minutes if he pushed it with the siren, but he didn't want to give Sakura further cause to beat him to a pulp. Patrol officers in the area would meet them at the site. Kakashi was taking no chances with this information, though he doubted there would be a trap. He still wouldn't put it past Hanzo to try something devious.

Sakura began discussing her theory with a small lecture. This good mood he'd fallen into was dangerous, he was even enjoying the nerd talk.

"It's called the Triad of the Homicidal Personality, a very simple demarcation reasoning behind the extreme behaviors exhibited by these individuals. But there are always outliers to the rule."

"So what you're saying is that Hanzo is an exception to the rule."

"Not exactly, what I'm saying is that Hanzo is not _simple _by any definition of the word. He's intelligent enough to have the capacity to appear normal in front of people unless provoked. He can put on airs of politeness. I wouldn't give him a second glance if I passed him in the street."

"That's the terrifying reason it took so long to track him down in the first place." Kakashi murmured under his breath as he gripped the steering wheel. Trying to hold back the onslaught of memories.

"But it's an act, Kakashi. And what you showed me today is that act has its limits. It can be broken."

"Unless that's what he wants you to think."

Sakura paused before she spoke.

"Are you saying that we could be walking into a trap?"

"I don't know." Kakashi sighed. "Anything is possible with Hanzo. He's had this trump card in his pocket for years now and never revealed it. What if I didn't play him as well as we thought? What if this is all an elaborate ploy?"

They were stopped at an intersection, the momentary pause allowing Kakashi to spiral further into his own thoughts. This was what Hanzo wanted. He wanted him to question every move, every thought, every feeling. It was his design to undermine every action that he decided to take before he'd even set a foot down the path.

"Kakashi."

He felt her hand rest on top of his, sitting on the middle console, and his head turned instinctively. What he didn't expect was for her to be so close. Those soft and supple lips planting themselves on his without a second for him to catch the breath that had escaped him. Eyes open he regarded just how beautiful she was before he sunk into the kiss. She tasted so damn good, she smelt good, everything about her was pure bliss. Although he doubted he would ever understand her completely, that also held some appeal. She would never bore him like the others.

It was all too brief. When she pulled back he wanted to follow, but the sounding of horns behind the sedan made him pause.

"Light's green." She said so sweetly as if she had instigated nothing.

He dropped his foot to the pedal in an attempt to wipe the grin from her face. It only seemed to solidify his own.

"What was that for?"

"Seemed the easiest way to get you out of your own head." That side smirk was not subtle, Sakura was thoroughly pleased with herself. "Worked, didn't it?"

"A little too well."

She was right. He was his own worst enemy. It didn't matter if Hanzo intended for them to run at this tidbit of information, it didn't matter if he'd set it all up. It was a lead, it was something they didn't have before. And Hanzo knew nothing of the secret weapon that Kakashi did not have all those years ago. Even though he was the one driving, she was behind the wheel.

"My medical opinion of a man I only just met holds no bearing, Kakashi. As usual you're obsessed with gathering all the information in the moment. Sometimes you have to be patient. We can't worry about something that hasn't happened yet, it's illogical. Let's just be cautiously optimistic on this new intel, check out the cabin, and see where it takes us."

"When did you get so... Hold on, _you're _the one always telling me I need to be prepared for the consequences, that I act now and think later-"

"But you've done that already." She interrupted him so resolutely that he ceased to function almost entirely. "You called for backup first, Kakashi. You're already preparing for what's to come."

"Huh." He hadn't even thought about it, it had been instinctual, and something he wouldn't have bothered to do a few months ago.

"Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks."

"Excuse me, _old?"_

"Apologies, would you have preferred senile? I thought it was already implied."

"I'm definitely going to have to find better uses for that sharp tongue of yours, Haruno."

"Bold of you to assume you can handle my tongue and all its uses..."

The back and forth continued between them until the rows of houses and streets became further and further apart. Making way for vast expanses of trees and gravel driveways that gave no view of what lay at the end of them. Though Kakashi could not have said definitively when they had reached the outskirts of civilization, he was enjoying the company far too much to notice such things.

The last time he'd traveled these roads, Yamato had been his interim partner. It had been in the wake of Rin's death and the final capture of Hanzo. That journey had been terse, fraught with fear and tension of not knowing what they would find at the cabin. Kakashi had assumed that there would be a trove of victims somewhere in the vicinity. But no matter how much they scoured the surrounding area, they came up with nothing. Teams of hundreds of people had grid searched for days, weeks, months. All to come up empty handed.

This time would be different. Something was waiting for them on a silver platter.

The driveway was harder to spot than Kakashi remembered. Vegetation covering the numbered letter box at the roadside. The only reason he didn't drive straight past it was the tire tracks in the gravel. Back up had already arrived and was waiting for them.

"This place already gives me the creeps." Sakura intimated as the sedan came to a stop.

"It's a remote location used by Konoha's most prolific serial killer, creepy is an understatement. I wouldn't mind a place like this when I retire though."

"What? Are you serious? Kakashi, there's no fast food joints for miles."

"It might surprise you to learn that I can take care of myself, Sakura. Besides, I always wanted to adopt a few more dogs."

His musings were cut short by the uniformed officer tapping on his window. The area had been secured before their arrival and the door to the cabin opened. Kakashi remembered the first time he'd been here, how shocked he had been to find that the door had no locks on it. The kind of country life that was meant to be lived here didn't need locks on the door. It made it even more suspicious that Hanzo had left something important inside. Anyone could have taken it if they had known where to look.

Before exiting the vehicle, Kakashi checked the weapon at his hip just to be sure. That surging paranoia came rushing to the surface. He'd had to surrender his weapon momentarily at the secure facility, what if Hanzo had paid someone off to remove the clip of the gun or tamper with it.

But everything was fine, he was just nervous. That needed to stop now if he had any hope of getting out of this arrangement unscathed.

It felt like the beginnings of a horror movie. The steps to the front door were creaking beneath his feet, the winds were shaking the tall trees that surrounded them, the chill in the air. It all had the premise that they were about to be picked off one by one by an ax wielding menace. As if to condemn them further he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his ribcage. He turned to find Sakura shooting him a stare of pure annoyance..

_That's right, she's more dangerous than anything we might find out here._

"What was that for?"

"I asked you a question, shit head."

"Wha-"

"Doesn't matter."

She pushed past him and opened the door. Two officers standing on either side of the entryway averted their gazes from Kakashi. Likely holding back laughter but too scared to do it within sight or reach of Sakura.

The light inside was dismal. Heavy layers of dust had been stirred up by the recent activity of the officers securing the scene. It hung in the air like fog, the slithers of sunlight that were able to get through simply reflected off it. There was little to no furniture. The space consisted of a small living room with a table and two chairs with the stairwell dividing it from the kitchen. The wood burning stove had been picked to pieces by forensics some time ago but nothing had been found.

_It was under our noses the whole time._

Obito chimed in just as he rounded on the door to the cupboard under the stairs.

"Did someone open this already?" Kakashi had that prickling feeling as he called back to the officers.

"No, sir. Our orders were not to touch that area specifically."

"Kakashi, what is it?"

Something was wrong with the picture but it took his brain a moment to form coherent words to describe the feeling. He reached into his jacket pocket for gloves just to be on the safe side.

"You don't notice what's off about this handle?"

"Is there?" Sakura sidled up next to him and peered at the thing for a moment before stepping back. "It looks clean to me."

"Exactly. This place has been derelict for years, there's two inches of dust everywhere except this one spot, look. The floor is also cleaner than the surrounding." Carefully he lifted the handle. "Someone has been here. Recently."

It would later impress him that he hadn't needed to say a word to Sakura, she'd retrieved her torch from her pocket and aimed it at the door, ready. The inside of that cupboard had been checked years ago as well, as a potential holding place for live victims, but no evidence had been found. That's why Kakashi found it highly unlikely that they would have missed something. Which meant that anything they did find in here had to have been planted in the time since.

It wasn't a large enough space for both him and Sakura to occupy, it was awkward enough to get his own body inside it. But there was no way he would let her in here first. If they found dismembered parts or a fresh victim he would never forgive himself.

But all that panic, all that nervous energy and preparation, it was all for naught.

Kakashi pried the panel off with his fingers while Sakura shone the light toward it. It was a hidden shelf. No bodies, no parts, just a single book. Or what appeared to be a book. Gloves still on, Kakashi tentatively picked it up and carried it out of the cupboard. It was blatantly obvious that there was nothing else of importance there.

"Is that a photo album?"

"Yeah, looks like. A pretty full one too." Kakashi glanced to Sakura before he swallowed enough courage to open it's pages.

What was shown within would haunt him to the end of his days.

"These are..." Sakura put a hand to her mouth, unable to complete the sentence.

"His kill book. Pictures of all his victims in their final resting places. Yeah." There were four to a page. Each poor soul naked and tied to a stake, the unmistakable cuts on the bodies was Hanzo's MO. The ones that they had found were on the first page, Kakashi recognized them immediately. On the next page there were four more. And the next, and the next...

When he reached the last page and saw the familiar figure of his friend it was like being punched in the stomach. This had all been just another game for Hanzo after all. A final rub of salt in the wound before he shifted off this mortal coil. The rage that began to build was palpable. His skin began to burn and itch with it.

"We may be able to track where he left them by the photos." Sakura's voice broke the fugue. "We can get Yamato to analyze the landmarks in the backgrounds, the foliage... it's worth a shot isn't it? We have the tech now."

She was right, and that was a good thing. Finally a lead after a decade. But the world had stopped for Kakashi.

For what he thought was the final page, what he thought was the last page of victims and turmoil, was not. His thumb shifted to reveal another set of photographs.

"There's 26..."

"What-"

"-Hanzo only had 22 victims, Sakura. There's 26 here." There were four more pictures on that page. Four more that Kakashi hadn't even known about. How could he have missed such a thing? He ran his gloved fingers over the faces of the women he had failed to save. "We caught him after Rin, she was meant to be the last, how... how did-"

"I know her."

Sakura was pointing at the woman at the top left of the page, her voice was unwavering but her features were all shock and terror. Kakashi's gaze was firmly set on his partner now, she had succeeded in pulling him from a downward spiral again.

"What do you mean, you know her?"

"Kakashi, you know her too. Her file is on your desk." Sakura's wide eyes finally met his. "Her name is Jessie, she went missing at the same time as Samantha Winters, her file was on the pile of possibilities for the skull."

"That means..." He didn't want to finish the sentence, he didn't want to breathe life to the theory, but it was too late.

"These ones are new."

"We're gonna need something better than a plant."

"Wha-"

"We need to get to a shoe store."

**Authors Note- **Due to my failing health I will be unable to update as regularly as I would like. I will continue to delete the abusive guest comments and keep this fic on for the time being.  
Thank you to those who have been supportive and kind, it means more to me at this time than you know.


	36. Chapter 36

It was Sakura's turn behind the wheel. The outskirts and remote areas of Konoha weren't exactly familiar to her, but she held off on plugging in the GPS for now. There was no need to overheat the sedan and stress out her partner even further. She was concerned about Kakashi enough without causing him, and the sedan, to break down.

It was also concerning that Kakashi hadn't put down that kill book since they had found it.

Sometimes she forgot that he'd been doing this job for more than a decade without her. Sometimes, when she remembered that detail, she would wonder just how he'd managed on his own. But this was a stark reminder that he hadn't been on his own. Not initially. He'd just been unfortunate to lose every person that he had ever worked with or held dear. From what she could tell it had happened in quick succession at first, until it was just Kakashi and Obito left to pick up the pieces. It was probably the reason why his death had hit him the hardest.

But he wasn't alone anymore.

"Yamato might be able to narrow down the location but I would still like to float these pictures around the precinct. We might get lucky."

"Call him and let him know we're coming, Kakashi. It's common courtesy."

"No." His answer was instant and resolute. When she shot him a questioning stare he sighed before elaborating. "If I call about this, he's going to think he can jump back on the case. It would just give him time to prepare an argument."

"What would be so bad about having another set of eyes with us? He's skilled enough—"

"—No, he's not cleared for field work. I can't guarantee his safety in this, Sakura. It's dangerous."

"So, what you're really saying, is that you don't want to have to babysit the both of us. Am I right?"

"On the contrary, it would be _you _doing the babysitting." The tension diffused for a quiet moment as Kakashi thought of his next words. Sakura would need to be patient with him in this case. "I'm not ignorant as to the effect this development is having on my judgement, Sakura. It's why I need you to be my eyes and ears. In case mine try to deceive me. We can't afford to make any mistakes here, not when Hanzo is involved."

At least Kakashi was able to admit it. Perhaps she didn't need to worry as much, but Sakura had a knack for worrying about those around her. And it wasn't something that could be turned off as easily as it came on. What she needed to do now, for herself as well as her partner, was to get them to focus back on the details of the case. To do what they did best.

"From memory, Hanzo's victims that were never recovered, they were tied to him by witness accounts."

He very rarely sounded so dejected, but this was one of the rare occasions. "That's right. Many of these women were last seen getting into his vehicle by third parties. Some were seen leaving bars with him. It was a brazen disregard for police capabilities at the time. He was parading around under our noses picking up victims, never to be seen again, and it took so long for us to connect those missing women with his profile."

"How did you manage to pin him for all 22 when only five were found?" It seemed like a silly thing to be asking after the fact, like something she should have known from the academy or the news. But those details were closely guarded for many reasons, and Kakashi still hadn't let her see the case file.

"It was Hanzo's last ditch effort to have his sentence commuted to life in prison. He dangled those other victims in front of us like bait. The judge at the time was keen to make the deal, but only if Hanzo would disclose the locations of them all. It was a game to Hanzo, and when the judge refused to play it, he shut up tighter than a nun on—"

"Kakashi Hatake, so help me if you finish that sentence I will throw you out of this moving vehicle and make it look like an accident."

He looked pleased with himself, utterly and completely. While she wasn't entirely impressed with his use of words, she was quietly pleased that he was bouncing back to that attitude which made him Kakashi.

From what she knew of the sociopath personality, they needed that control. Even when they were backed into a corner, the need to take charge of the trajectory of their own life kicked in. Hanzo was capable of anything to achieve his goal. Kakashi continued unprompted in that easy back-and-forth that they seemed to settle into.

"Yamato and I, we went through every shred of evidence. Every hair, every fiber... Well, he did. It was my job to assemble the puzzle pieces and match the specks of evidence to the missing persons files. Much like we did with Samantha Winters case."

"You once said you wouldn't be surprised if there were more victims of his out there."

"One of Hanzo's games he liked to play was to have Obito and I try to guess the number of victims."

"Jesus Christ, Kakashi."

"Nothing surprises me on this job anymore Haruno. Except you, of course—you continue to surprise me at every turn."

He was diverting the conversation in a distinctly Kakashi way. A technique he used often enough for her to be able to recognize it within a second. The compliment might have once succeeded in changing the topic of conversation, but beating around the bush was not something that Sakura was accustomed to.

"And after you worked out the rough number of victims, you had Yamato transferred to the lab."

Kakashi stiffened before he spoke.

"He was made for forensics, he found evidence no one could, and processed it himself with no guidance or instruction."

"He's just not cut out to be a cop then, that it?" Sakura was steadily growing frustrated at not knowing the whole story. Sometimes Kakashi needed a little nudging in the right direction. "What you're not saying is louder than your words, Kakashi."

"You trying to frighten me with that mind reading trick again? I thought you weren't specialized in psychiatry?"

"No, just telepathy." There was a derisive snort from the passenger's seat but she continued nonetheless. "Just tell me, Kakashi. Why don't you want Yamato with us in the field? He's trained, he has experience, and knowledge. What is it? You clearly trust him enough to seek out his help for important cases."

"I do that because he's the best." Kakashi answered wistfully as he looked out the window. Perhaps he was remembering details of the Knife-Man case, or perhaps he was shirking the line of inquiry.

"Then why not call him and let him come with us?" The silence continued despite her question, so she added incentive. "You know, if you tell me why I'll drop it. Either way I trust you and your judgement."

"You trust it, but you want to know the reasons why. I get it, you're a good detective, Sakura." He sighed, it appeared genuine and not just for dramatic affect. "I realize that you and I would be using Yamato as a professional consultant, he wouldn't be my partner this time. And I do trust him. He'd have been one of the best if he'd stayed in the force, he's just ahead of his time. Konoha PD isn't quite ready for someone like him yet."

Kakashi seemed to be floundering, struggling to fish out the words he needed to explain himself. Perhaps he was justifying it out loud. Sakura didn't want to interrupt his process but the man would take a lifetime if she didn't help it along as usual.

"You talking about the gay thing?"

"Not exactly. It certainly doesn't help matters."

"That's so backward for a department that wanted a woman as its commissioner."

"The thing with Tsunade, she kicks any bias in the ass, like you. She wouldn't let a silly thing like gender get in the way of her ambition. And that's how she's earned the respect of every officer in the KPD. But people are... different when it comes to the other stuff."

Sakura ruminated on the implications while trying to keep her focus on the unfamiliar country roads as they slowly began to blend into the city. Her anger was clawing at the cage threatening to break free, but Kakashi was stating fact, it wasn't his fault.

"People didn't respect Yamato as an officer?"

This time Kakashi shifted, twitching as if to reach for the matchbook in his pocket. He was thinking of how best to respond without encouraging her wrath.

"He's a good person, one of the best I've worked with. But that's only my opinion. I knew that our partnership at the time was temporary. One day he would have a different partner, maybe he takes a job on his own, maybe he calls for backup. Others could hesitate to respond in time just because of who he is, and while it shouldn't happen, I've seen it enough times to know that it's true." Kakashi's words were heavy but he wasn't finished. "More than that, Yamato's forensic skills, his technological capabilities... well they're legendary. 20 years and I've never seen anyone take to it that quickly and with such accuracy. His talents need to be protected, at all costs."

What she felt underlining Kakashi's words now, was the same as what she had felt in the moment they had found that photo album. The feeling that had coursed through them both in the second he had taken hold of her wrist before meeting Hanzo.

It was fear, in its most fortified and purest of forms. So strong that it had swayed her partner into taking the appropriate actions to keep Yamato in the lab, permanently.

"You knew that Hanzo would be back some day. You wanted to make sure that Yamato would be around when you came head to head with the Knife-Man again."

"Precisely." Kakashi spoke the word with a kind of reverence, quietly as if he were admitting a dark secret that had gone unspoken for many years.

As they continued to drive in relative silence, Sakura allowed her mind to catch up on all that had happened in such a brief period of time. What struck her the most was the way Kakashi had behaved in order to prevent tragedy from happening again. How he had set the pieces in motion long ago, not knowing when he would need to be ready or what sick game Hanzo would reappear with.

She remained in quiet awe of her partner. It was a testament to the detective he had been in the wake of Hanzo's path of destruction. And here he was again, able to thrive in the chaos.

Sakura was sure, however, that he would not have been able to do it on his own. Not today, and not without her. So she too would have to remain on top of her game, for his sake. Kakashi had bested the man once before, to an extent, he was in prison for his crimes. That may be the partial reason for the way Kakashi had been able to pull himself together so quickly. But this was the same man she had watched lament over the death of Obito. He had not been successful in the case that had mattered to him most and it ate at him visibly.

She would not allow it to happen again. She would not fail him.

Ignoring the rumbles of her hungry stomach, they parked the sedan out front of Axiom Labs. Despite her protests, Kakashi remained steadfast on keeping Yamato in the dark until they were there in person to explain. At times she wondered if there was really a method to his madness, or if it was intentional laziness to serve a purpose. After that display with Hanzo she was reminded that Kakashi's every move was likely calculated.

"Should we brief Tsunade on the development?" It was an afterthought for Sakura, the adrenaline was still in her system. Passing the wheelchair access at the entrance to the lab must have reminded her of her aunt.

"Technically, I _am _still acting Captain until she is reinstated officially. So, no."

"You just don't want to give away that you've got a lead," she mumbled as the smell of ammonia hit her with the opening doors.

"It's only a lead if we find something from it, Haruno."

"Yeah, yeah. This isn't my first day, Hatake, you can rein in your little jerk act."

"On the contrary, Detective Haruno." Yamato was standing in the lobby as they entered. "He's a _big _jerk, not a little one."

They hadn't been speaking seriously, it was all joking back and forth, but as soon as she caught sight of Yamato she paused. The usual retort didn't bite back as it would have under different circumstances. Suddenly she was acutely aware of the book that was clutched in Kakashi's gloved hand.

Yamato signed the clipboard he was holding before handing it off to the reception. When he turned to face them fully he appeared none the wiser, and Sakura felt sorry for him. His world was about to be plunged into mayhem and murder.

"What's up?"

Sakura shifted at his question, trying to catch Kakashi's eye but he was focused solely on the entomologist.

"You're going to need to sit down for this," Sakura said before she could check herself.

"What you'll need is gloves," Kakashi corrected, holding the album up for Yamato to see.

With a look of concern and eyes of hot coals, he nodded before leading them down the corridors to the jungle that was his laboratory. This room would never cease to fascinate her. The way that state of the art technology was nestled in the overwhelming green. Perhaps Yamato had picked up on the somber tone from Kakashi in just the few words that had been spoken, he immediately donned the latex at his station.

"This is either serious or not work-related if you've come empty handed."

"Check your inbox." Kakashi was keeping more secrets, and his words were an annoying surprise until she remembered that she hadn't taken him via the shoe shop as requested.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Yamato straightened, stepping back from the computer as if it had bitten him. "Kakashi, you've never gone so far before, not in..." His sentence petered out, his eyes were wide as they rounded on Kakashi. "He's back, isn't he..."

It was less of a question and more of an unhindered thought, one that matched the serious atmosphere around them. Sakura opened her mouth to speak but Kakashi beat her to the punch.

"Yes. This time it's a different game, Yamato."

Kakashi placed the album on the steel table. All three of them continued to glare at it, as if the thing may come to life and reveal secrets of its own accord. Yamato took a deep breath as if he were steadying himself before he moved slowly toward it. Before Sakura could think of a way to mentally prepare the man for what he was about to see, he was looking through the pages. Maybe she expected him to recoil, to show the same visceral emotion as she had, as her partner had. But Yamato reacted in a way that was rife with frustration and anger.

"Fucking hell, Kakashi. You better have cataloged this, _properly, _with a chain of custody agreement."

"Sakura and I are going to do that shortly."

"You _know _what that pit bull of a lawyer will do. He'll find any way he can to excuse this as evidence."

"Don't use the term pit bull, Yamato, it encourages the misunderstanding of the breed—"

"—Kakashi, I am not in the fucking mood for your bullshit. Where did you find this?"

Sakura saw fit to answer for her partner.

"We went to see him. He told us where to find it."

There was a pause as he got further along in the book, to the most recent entries. In that moment Sakura was kicking herself for not pulling over the sedan on the way and warning the man herself. But then something happened that caused her to again wonder if Kakashi was truly omnipotent.

"I see. These are recent. We don't have time to mess around with another psycho on the loose. This is going to take some work to process before I can even get to narrowing down potential locations. There's scanning, glue analysis, particulate examination..."

Sakura opened her mouth to offer her services and assist Yamato when she paused. Had Kakashi planned this too? Had he wanted her to stay in the lab and out of the field? But even he couldn't possibly have known that there were recent victims and a real danger lurking about the case. She fixed her narrow gaze to her partner instead of Yamato this time.

"Sounds like you need someone with a medical sciences degree to give you a hand. And what exactly will you be doing, Jackass?"

With folded arms she directed the question to Kakashi. Yamato didn't shift from his position.

"Who, me?" He raised a brow in mock hurt but continued before the volley of expletives at her tongue could reply to his question. "Well, according to the law, at least until we file a chain of custody to Axiom, we need to stay in sight of this album, and therefore with our good doctor."

"That doesn't tell me what you'll be doing, Hatake, while I help out here."

Something passed between them that she couldn't identify. The sparks of a fire that threatened to get out of hand. He'd asked her to play this game with him, to be his eyes and ears. How could she do that while he kept secrets, while he was off doing God knows what? He was supposed to be thinking of the consequences of his actions now, not running blindly to the basement to find a serial killer with a bomb.

"Unfortunately, I am still acting as Captain, Haruno. So I'll be heading back to the precinct and no doubt dodging phone calls as much as I possibly can."

"Alright then. Am I able to file chain of custody from this computer, Yamato?"

The entomologist mumbled something along the lines of "go ahead" but it was unclear. As well as the gloves, he'd also donned a mask and was currently burying his face in the spine of the book.

Kakashi's grip on her elbow was more tender and tentative than she would have expected. As if he were trying to implore her without words.

"There's something else I need to follow up on." He spoke quietly.

"I don't like secrets between partners. Last time you followed a lead on your own—"

"—I know, Sakura. I know. But we don't have time. I've just got a hunch, it could be nothing, but I'd like to cover our bases all the same. Something Yamato said isn't sitting with me right."

She took pause at his words, and took in every detail of his eyes and his face. She was no mind reader, and she had been kidding herself to think she could truly predict this man. Thus far their partnership had been built on a foundation of mutual trust and respect. He'd never given her cause to doubt his ability before. But she had every reason to doubt his safety.

"50/50, remember? Just get your ass back here and help out soon. I'll leave some of the easy stuff for you."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

Before anything else could be said, Kakashi was retrieving the sedan keys from her jacket pocket with an absurd wink. It was feigned confidence, or perhaps he was just pleased that his plan had worked. She would find out later. Right now, there were much bigger fish to fry.

They exchanged a look before Kakashi slunk back into the corridors. Sakura prepped herself at the corner sink. On her way past the computer, she stole a glance at the screen. It was still showing whatever Kakashi had sent to the man's inbox. She was surprised to find a digital gift card, for what was probably a week's pay at Kakashi's rank. The amount wasn't the only thing that struck her. It wasn't to an outlet, or to a men's sports store, as she expected it would be. This was high fashion, boutique level, and not one commonly frequented by the regulars of society.

Before she could look into this development further, Yamato pulled her from her distraction.

"That computer is hooked into the precinct server, the chain of custody link is in—"

"—It's alright, Yamato, you're not babysitting Kakashi. I know how to work a computer."

"That's right, things might actually go a little faster with him at the precinct."

"He's not at the precinct."

She wasn't sure what had prompted the words to escape from her inner-most thoughts. It had been a knee jerk reaction on her part likely due to the autopilot setting she'd found herself in.

"But... I thought he said..." Yamato stammered.

"I heard what he said." The anger was also now entering her tone out of her control. "He lied."

"You can tell that, huh. Impressive." Yamato stood back a little from the book, perhaps out of pity, though he sounded envious. "I won't ask if it bothers you when it's an obvious conclusion. But...do you think we need to be worried?"

Sakura was usually a very good worrier. To such a degree that she thought it should be added to her resume. It was true that she was concerned for her partner, concerned as to what this case would do to his already fragile psyche. If Yamato had asked her that question a few hours ago she wouldn't have hesitated to divulge her worries.

But her answer came immediately. She wasn't even aware of her mind forming the words. And that spoke louder than any concerns she might have held for Kakashi.

"No, he'll tell me when I need to know."

For the moment, that answer seemed to satisfy the entomologist. She proceeded to file the chain of custody, sparing no detail. Sakura half expected her phone to ignite at any second, for Jiraiya or Tsunade to ask her what had happened. But she had a sneaking suspicion that they already knew. Their pockets were deep, their combined power reaching far and wide, the backup officers at the scene _had _to have told them by now. She wondered now too, if Kakashi had known that would happen. If he were intentionally tipping them off to their lead.

"You may work faster than Kakashi, but you certainly go into that hyper-focused, ignore-everyone-around-you mode, just the same."

"Huh?" Sakura hadn't realized that Yamato was over her shoulder. "Oh, yeah, sorry. Force of habit."

"Wow, you went into detail there too, nice. No margin for error where Hanzo's lawyer is concerned—his only defense is to pick apart our work." He held up a pair of gloves for her to take. "Did you actually speak to him? Hanzo, I mean."

"Not me personally, no. Kakashi asked me to be the silent observer in the room."

"You got further than I did, then. He always made me stand outside."

Yamato sounded dejected, he sounded like a man who had accepted his fate as a lab jockey but was nostalgic of his past as an officer. She took the gloves as he returned to the table. There wasn't time to ponder on the meaning behind it all. There wasn't time for analysis of those around her, when she should be analyzing the lead they had found. And there was so much to do.

She would reserve her ire at being left in the dark until the case was finished, and her partner was within reach of her fists. She was a detective, she didn't need a man to be present to get answers. And there was one thing she could get to the bottom of without Kakashi.

"Yamato, you've asked me a couple questions now. I do have one of my own if you would oblige me."

"Of course, Detective Haruno, anything."

He was being polite, he was being courteous, and he probably presumed she had questions about the work they were embarking on. But, just as Yamato had a wall full of certificates in the field of science, so too did Sakura. And what she had to ask was nothing to do with work.

"Why the shoes? The gift certificate?"

He froze, his head turning away from the equipment to face her. The look on his face was disconcerting. Wide eyes and a tense energy.

"I thought you already knew about Tenzo?"

"Uh..."

"He never told you about my act, did he?"

"Act?"

Yamato sighed, the man usually had an air of exasperation around Kakashi, but this was the first time Sakura had caused the same reaction.

"In the best interest of the case at hand, I will tell you." He stepped closer, adding weight to his words. "But if you so much as breathe a word to anyone, remember that I have special clearance to your records. I know where you live, and can manipulate software if need be..."

"Yeah, yeah. I get it. Don't tell anyone. Just hurry up, we've got work to do and I don't want to be constantly wondering wh—"

"Peg Legg Tenzo." He'd interrupted her with a string of words so bizarre she couldn't answer.

"Wha—?"

"It's the name of my... burlesque persona." He dropped those two words quickly, as if the entire lab would hear if spoken any louder. "I'm in a show that performs every Thursday night in the theater by the waterfront. Satisfied? Can we get back to work now, please?"

Sakura was watching him with a furrowed brow and a smile.

"Don't think you're leaving it there. I have _so_ many more questions."


	37. Chapter 37

There had been no need to blast the sirens along the way, but damned if Kakashi hadn't enjoyed the rush of endorphins that accompanied the speed and sound. It would have been a perfect ride if not for the destination. Something was calling him here,back to the facility where Hanzo was kept. He likened it to the long forgotten tapping of Obito on his shoulder until he finally conceded to turn.

Kakashi remembered this feeling fondly. Those golden days of knowing that his partner was safe, with a lead in his pocket and somewhere new to focus his investigation. It was hopeful, and he was doing his damnedest to tamper it down. While it was inherently a good thing to remain hopeful, it needed to be in moderation—there were risks to being lulled into a false sense of security. And for the first time in a long while, Kakashi considered that he had precious people who needed to be protected at all costs.

That wasn't the reason that he'd encouraged Sakura to stay at the lab with Yamato. On the contrary, he knew what kind of assistance would be needed, and with the ever-pressing need to be ahead of the game, he considered Sakura his secret weapon. Surely she would be an asset to Yamato, maybe they could get there a little faster, maybe they could protect another innocent person from being killed.

At least, that's what Kakashi kept telling himself on the drive.

Putting a wager on it with Tsunade had been one of his better ideas. She was always betting on the wrong horse after all, so his success had felt like a guarantee the moment she had agreed. It was too late now to dwell on whether it had been the right call, or if using something so morbid as a tactic to get their case back was morally repugnant. Morals were a grey area anyway for Kakashi, but for now, he was seeing all in black and white. He knew what needed to be done, and come hell or high water he was going to see this through, _they _were going to see this through. _Together._

Sakura had never been privy to how Yamato worked, not really. She'd seen him tap at a computer, but that was only one of his uses. The speed and accuracy with which he was able to find and decipher trace evidence was magical. Maybe now she would see just why it had been so imperative to keep the man out of the line of fire.

This time, standing in front of the facility, Kakashi felt none of the doom he had felt earlier that morning. This hope was beginning to be a dangerous thing. Before facing off with Hanzo he would need to stamp it out completely. It wouldn't do to show the devil the cards that he held. As far as Hanzo knew, he was a lone wolf, working alone and off the books. And Kakashi needed him to think that way for a while longer.

It was getting late in the afternoon but he entered with fresh resolve.

He was halfway through using his usual charming spiel to get himself past reception without an appointment when a familiar voice saved him the trouble.

"He's with me." Doctor Yamanaka flashed a badge and all the doors were suddenly open.

"Thanks." Kakashi pandered while the man escorted him at an appreciated pace.

"Don't thank me just yet. We still have to get there before his lawyer—he checked in a minute ago."

"Already?" The surging of panic did not waver his voice but it was felt all the same like a crashing wave.

"It's alright, we'll take a short cut."

Inoichi proceeded to take Kakashi through a number of side doors, to staff corridors he'd never seen before, past crowded cell blocks. He kept his eyes ahead and was thankful that they were walking quickly. It wasn't due to unease, or to the prospect of having someone he had put away recognize him and act out. There was a different unsettling notion in the back of his mind. One that would not be ignored.

Hanzo must have directly contacted his lawyer after speaking with Kakashi. Or this was an arranged appointment. Either way, it meant that he was making a move.

When they were out of earshot of anyone who could possibly listen, Inoichi took the opportunity to ask the question he must have been itching to ask.

"You found something?"

Kakashi weighed the options heavily in his mind. Whether to divulge the crucial piece of evidence they had found to this man he barely knew or to play his cards close to his chest. Would there be any harm in revealing it to this trained professional? Could he be trusted?

That prickling sensation along the back of his neck began to intensify at the thought, and it solidified his decision for him.

"Not sure."

_Anyone who is close to Hanzo is a suspect, Bakashi._

This time Obito's words weren't just a figment of his conscience. They were an exact memory of something spoken by the man himself. Kakashi felt as if Obito was approving of the vague answer until they had some actual answers for themselves.

"Well, whatever 'not sure' is, it certainly seems to have lit a fire under the asses of a few people." Dr. Yamanaka didn't flinch in his movements or speech despite not expressly getting what he wanted. Kakashi might have been persuaded to trust the man this morning, but for now he could only trust himself, even if the man was helping him move through the facility. He'd ask Sakura if he should apologize later.

They rounded a corner and were within sight of the more familiar corridors before Hanzo's cell. With only the regular security guards in view, Kakashi maintained hope for a little longer that he had been able to get to the man first. With the doctor's clearance they were able to enter the first secure corridor without the time delay, a detail which Kakashi stowed away in his mind for later use.

It was at the moment his hand was extended to reach for the handle that any false sense of hope was crushed. Like a rolling wave breaking onto shore and into nothingness. Suddenly the door was opened and a suit blocking the way to Hanzo.

Kakashi could see the man himself over the shoulder of the lawyer. Hanzo was sporting a grin and waved to him. While the action appeared normal, it held more sinister undertones.

"You don't have an appointment, Detective. You can't speak to my client without me being present, you have no right—"

"—I know my rights. After all, it's my job to uphold them for everyone." Kakashi knew who he was, knew there was no need to ask the question, but winning meant not letting this lawyer think for one second that he was anyone of importance. "And you would be?"

"Gukutsu Samidare. You'll have heard of me, Detective. I hope you have a better capability of searching that puny brain of yours than you do crime scenes."

The man was a head shorter than Kakashi, standing directly in his way with that smarmy hair slicked back. Defense attorneys were all the same. Hanzo had always thrown aside lawyers faster than an infant in a high chair threw aside their peas. And somehow he had a new shiny one handed to him just as all seemed to have that same deplorable personality.

'Pit bull' was still too nice a term for this soulless suit.

"Well, I might have a few questions for your client."

"And you can address them to me, in writing, when you make an appointment. Any further communication with Mr. Sanshouo will be directed through me, got it? Or do I need to spell it out for you a bit more, Detective?"

Inoichi made a move to say something but Kakashi simply held up a palm. It seemed to silence him, but Kakashi's attention was focused on the upstart little shit in front of him. In a power move, he stepped forward and directly into the personal space of the smaller man. His discomfort was immediate and satisfying. It was telling that Gukutsu was too terrified of his own client to step back further into the observation room.

"Fine, you can tell him that I'll see him Saturday."

Kakashi said it darkly, his eyes wandering over the head of the lawyer and to Hanzo standing at the glass divide. The lawyer gulped before he managed to find a reply.

"In light of this new evidence, we'll be pushing for a stay of execution. Your questions have to be directed to me, Detect—"

"I don't have to do shit." Kakashi smirked before he took a step back and turned. "It's Lieutenant, by the way, if your puny mind is able to get the facts right."

Dr. Yamanaka followed hot on his heels, but Kakashi didn't want to talk to anyone right now. He had wanted to speak with Hanzo. That had been his intention in coming here. But maybe it had been fortuitous. Sakura was always telling him that he was rushing in and thinking later, and maybe this was one of those times. There was no need to tip off Hanzo as to what they were up to. Would he have gotten any answers out of the man anyway? It was doubtful.

When they were safely out of earshot, and Inoichi had caught up with him at the front desk, the question was finally asked.

"What did he mean, 'in light of new evidence?'" The doctor was catching his breath as he spoke.

"It's doubtful that he would be notified already, unless my partner has managed to log evidence in record speed. Someone at the DA's office would still have had to tip him off early before the declaration..." Kakashi was handed his cellphone by the front desk and it made him pause. There was a message from Sakura on the screen.

_Tenzo is on to something._

There were no missed calls, she knew that he would be avoiding them.

"I don't think even I am able to get you back in with Hanzo, not with that pit bull around." Inoichi ignored the eye roll which Kakashi had been unable to prevent. "What are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to do my job, Doctor. I suggest you do the same." Something was prickling the back of Kakashi's neck, and it would not subside. There was no need to be so short with Yamanaka, especially after he had tried to help. But as he nodded curtly and headed to the exit, he couldn't turn off that feeling.

What he needed to do now was get back to the precinct and follow this feeling through until it made sense.

_Or someone makes sense of it for you._

"Shut up, Obito."

_We're back to that now, are we?_

Kakashi slammed the door to the sedan and ignored the goading of his subconscious. The sound of the siren this time wasn't enough to drown out the questions spiraling through his mind. Had the crafted persona cracked? Would Hanzo be able to tell? Had he already made a fatal error? Who would be the next victim?

His phone vibrated in his pocket and distracted the line of thought. It would be Sakura again. And as if just thinking of her set him on the right track, suddenly he had a definitive answer to those looping questions and they were no longer the noose around his neck.

No. This time, it was a whole new game.

By now he was thinking clearly and wondering just what Tenzo could be onto already. It must have only been a few hours, but that was usually all he needed to unearth a thread to follow. Sakura had never seen what the man was truly capable of. And that was the thought that spurred him on. Because truly, she had never seen what _Kakashi _was capable of.

Kakashi Hatake, the man who had solved over a thousand cases. If he could somehow harness all that he had learned, if he could just remember every single detail all at once like magic, maybe it would help. Just because he'd been relatively dormant for the last year didn't mean those experiences were entirely lost. They were in there somewhere.

It was time to revive the database. It was time to step up. It was no longer acceptable to be anything less than the best. Captain Minato, Obito and Rin, they would expect better from him. Sakura needed him to be better. Most importantly he needed to be better for himself.

Because magic, luck, divine intervention: none of it existed. He had to follow his instinct and follow what was _real. _Those details were what was going to solve the case before another life was lost.

There would be no more victims. Not this time.

He was Captain now, after all.

_Acting Captain, Bakashi. You ain't there yet._

"Thought I told you to shut up..." Kakashi mumbled as he fished for the phone in his pocket. One hand on the wheel, one eye on the road, he managed to jam the cell into the holder on his dash. "Siri, call Sakura."

Usually he detested speaker phone, but the habit had been drilled into him by Sakura herself. She answered on the third ring. Which meant she had been waiting for him to call. If she had been very angry she would have let it get to five rings.

"About fucking time, Hatake."

"Yeah, sorry, I was... chasing a dead end." It wasn't a lie, it wasn't the truth either. But he'd tell her that in person when he had a physical means of silencing her.

"You're falling behind. But I guess two out of three isn't bad."

"Wait, you've found something too?" Kakashi could practically hear her smugness before he'd finished the question.

"While Yamato sniffs the glue..."

"It's called super glue fuming, and I'm looking for fingerprints on these porous surfaces thank-you-very—"

Kakashi smirked at the entomologist's interruption being ended by a very deliberate thwacking sound.

"I think I've managed to ID another one of the recent victims. She appears to be Raiza Gabriel, another one of the missing persons we looked at in Samantha Winters case."

"Sakura, that's impressive, you really are my little time saver."

"If you ever call me that in front of other people, I will even out the scars on your face, Hatake. But what's more interesting, and I can't be certain just yet, it's really just a hunch..."

Kakashi was tempted to pull over for a second. This was like the skull in the river all over again. Sakura had found something and was second guessing herself. But then she continued.

"There's no way to be sure until we have the bodies, but I think the newer victims were killed elsewhere, and then posed in this place to mimic Hanzo's. Whereas the older pictures of the victims, well you can see, there's no rigor mortis on the bodies. They are fresh."

"There's also blood on the poles." The words slipped from his tongue without his express permission.

"There's what?"

"On the older photos." Kakashi could see it so clearly in his mind's eye, as if Sakura's theory had dislodged the dust from his vision. "When Hanzo left his telltale mark on the victims bodies, their blood spattered onto the poles used to pose them. You could see clear arterial spurring on the poles. I didn't see any on the four new ones."

"Shit, you're right..."

"It only substantiates your analysis, Sakura. But that does tell us that there's a separate murder site that we need to find. One with fresh evidence." Kakashi would never be sure if it was his strengthened resolve to put an end to Hanzo's reign of terror alone that caused him to focus so sharply and so suddenly. It may have been Sakura's influence alone that stoked the fire. The outcome was a mass recall of intricate details that Kakashi had painstakingly researched many years ago.

"Kakashi?" Sakura's voice cut through the fugue he had fallen into.

"The poles, Haruno, are the newer ones green?"

"Yeah, they look similar if not the same to the older ones. I can't be certain without examining them in person, but visually..."

"With the few victims Hanzo let us find, the poles were some of the only physical evidence he left behind. We were never able to get anything substantial from them. No forensics, no way to know where they had come from. After he was eventually arrested, Obito discovered that Hanzo had briefly worked a low level construction job. The poles were meant for housing projects with steel frames, but when the project was trashed, instead the poles were painted green and used for construction of children's playgrounds and the like. Which means..."

"Our new perp is getting similar poles from somewhere. Well done, Kakashi. Looks like you caught up." Sakura still managed to sound smug even though he had found this lead. "Make sure you chase this one properly."

"Leave it to me. I'll run background searches and see what became of that construction company. In the meantime, don't work through the night on this, Sakura. Get some rest. You've earned it."

"And how exactly am I meant to get home when you took the keys and car, hmm?" There was a tapping sound and the echo of her speakerphone died out. "There's no way I'm leaving this now. Besides, you're not going to rest, and I won't be outdone by you, Hatake."

"This is a direct order from your superior officer, get some sleep. The both of us need to be on top of our game and you've already pulled enough overtime." Kakashi knew that he had been relying on her heavily today, in truth he had relied on her for many months now. A few years ago he wouldn't have given a second thought to the both of them working separate leads through the night. Probably because of Sakura's influence alone, he found himself caring, and not just because he needed her.

More than anything, Kakashi wanted her to be safe, and to be happy. Very suddenly he'd come to the realization that she was more important than any case he would ever work. And that thought scared him more than the Kyuubi Killer.

"Lucky there's enough disinfectant here to clean the couch in Yamato's office." She somehow was able to convey her pout into her tone. "What about you?"

"I won't have the luxury of disinfecting the couch in the break room, but I could always ask Gai to lock me in a cell."

"Tell him to throw away the key."

"I'll miss you too, Haruno. I'll let you know when I find something."

"Likewise... jackass." The swear word was the last thing he heard as she hung up the call and it caused him to smirk.

By the time the precinct came into view, Kakashi was working through the next steps in his mind. It was a long shot, but it was still a lead, it was still something to chase. And it was more than they had before. Through the course of their partnership thus far, Kakashi had always considered Sakura to be the optimistic one. Something that would surely be stamped out of her with time on the job. But in this moment, he found himself cautiously optimistic that his hunch would pay off. After all, his hunches were usually correct.

One of the few perks of being acting captain meant that he could walk through the entrance without being accosted too much. The downside would come when he got to that desk and found the stockpile of paperwork he'd been avoiding. There wasn't time for bureaucracy, not when there was another Knife man prowling around Konoha.

On the third floor, Kakashi knew just where to hit the snack machine to get something to drop without paying for it. On his way past he jabbed, stashed whatever fell in his pocket without looking at it, and proceeded to Tsunade's office. He was intending to lock himself in there for the night, or however long it took to find a clue. This was the part of detective work that was not glorified by television shows and movies. It was the desk jockey background checks and fact verifications that were as necessary as the forensics. It was sustaining yourself on whatever was available to get through the night.

If Obito had been present, he'd have ordered a pizza delivered to the precinct. If Sakura had been here, she'd have already prepared them meals, But Kakashi was now slipping into old habits, and he wouldn't realize it until much later.

The tools at his fingertips were so much more than they had been ten years ago. But to know how to navigate these databases took skill on its own. And this was a skill he had allowed to gather dust for a while now. Kakashi had been at the forefront of creating these databases. It was his need to consume knowledge on all kinds of things that had born the idea.

No matter the crime or the scene, no matter where or what was left behind, there would be evidence. There would be something. The complexity of this evidence, and its power to shape the course of the investigation, all to back up the lines of justice. Its importance was something which had always fascinated and terrified Kakashi. If just one small detail was missed, a killer could be allowed their freedom to kill again. The thrill of putting the puzzle pieces together was not just a novelty that had failed to wear off, but a compulsion that Kakashi had always listened to.

Things like shoe prints and tire impressions, those kinds of evidence were afforded respect on the job. But Kakashi had always been open to the idea that _anything _could prove useful. Databases on building materials, insulation, paint. Things that seemed innocuous at first, but held the potential to break a case wide open. If that meant walking the streets, cataloguing every kind of paint held by craft stores in the greater Konoha area, so be it. If it meant having to study the history of insulation used in buildings throughout Konoha for the last hundred years, Kakashi had been willing to do the work. That meticulous and thorough nature had been an asset which Minato had encouraged, and Kakashi had trusted his former captain implicitly.

As he sat at that desk, the one that Minato himself had once steered, it was as if he were being pushed towards the right answer. The guiding hand of his teacher, his mentor, his leader, was giving him another nudge in the right direction.

It was just a shame that the precinct computer speed did not match the sense of urgency that Kakashi felt at this time.

_Some things never change, Bakashi. _

While Obito was correct, that spending actual money to update these computers wasn't within the realms of possibility for the Konoha PD, there was one major difference. Kakashi smirked to himself. He was still acting captain, another detail which Hanzo knew nothing about. And that meant he could delegate where he saw fit.

Playing his cards close to his chest was still important, but there was one other he could trust.

"Gai, get in here!" Kakashi shouted rather than using the phone.

Gai appeared in an instant.

"Reporting for duty, sir!"

"Gai, if you ever call me that again, I'll assign you to the records room."

"That doesn't sound so—"

"- _with _Genma."

There was a pause and an exchange of looks as the threat was instantly understood, weighed and measured.

"What can I do for you, Lieutenant?"

"That's better." If Sakura had been present he might've enjoyed these quips a bit more. The look on her face was always his greatest mark of success. "Listen, I know it's late, but I need to get these background checks run before morning. Time is of the essence, there's another lead I need to chase and no one else here that I can trust."

"Morning might be pushing it, Kakashi. But leave it to me, I'll start them now. What are the names?"

Without wasting another second, Kakashi pulled out his notebook and wrote the names on the page before tearing it out. Gai was already reading it before it was in his hand. This was another long shot, but it was a road that needed to be taken. It was another hunch that was sitting in the corner of his mind. And this time round, he was going to find a way to follow all avenues, and he was going to win.

"That second one, Yudachi. I don't have a last name, but he's a biographer who's had access to Hanzo Sanshouo. I want to know what he had for breakfast, got it?"

"Yes si- I mean, yes… I'm on it." Gai had turned and was halfway out the door before he spoke again. "The other two, are you sure…?"

"I'm not sure, and that's why you're going to check for me. Let me know when you're done."

As if to better signal the end of the conversation, Kakashi diverted all his attention to the screen in front of him. There wasn't time to be second guessing himself. Gai was an excellent detective, he was doing his job, and it was always good to have people who questioned your actions in this job. It was what kept the brass honest.

There was work to be done. Kakashi began with a list of the things running through his mind, a list of what he had to check, where to check them. First stop was the department of internal affairs website, the companies office to be precise, to find the company that Hanzo had once worked for. The registry of company certificates would tell him if the business was still running, and with a little digging he would be able to find contact information.

With tunnel vision enveloping him, there was no way for Kakashi to know how many minutes or hours had passed. It had taken him longer than he would care to admit to remember the exact name of the construction business. That was the first setback. The second was the discovery that the company had been struck off some years ago. It was then a hunt to find a contact number for the accountancy firm which had filed the paperwork.

Without thinking he picked up his cellphone to dial the number he had found on the screen. It was then that he realized the time. No one in their right mind would be in the office of an accountant after 10pm. He tried anyway with no luck. Whether it was a third setback or a small speed bump until morning he couldn't be sure. He was making the mental note to call back in the morning when he noticed Gai standing in the office.

"Found something?"

"Welcome back." Gai smirked. "First background check is up on the server, easy enough, the secure facility does them for every employee."

"Let's see what we've got." Kakashi welcomed the distraction from his lead that was quickly going nowhere. "Doctor Inoichi Yamanaka…"

"What exactly are you looking for with this one?" Gai asked as he rounded the desk to peer over his shoulder.

"Anything and everything, Gai."

Kakashi began to scroll and succumb to the tunnel vision of consuming knowledge again. He wasn't sure exactly when Gai had left.

The doctor appeared to be a model psychiatrist. His access to the building was still something of a convenience that Kakashi had marked as suspicious. But everything about the man seemed to check out, at least on paper. Dating all the way back to medical school, his internships, residencies, it was all here and none of it seemed suspicious. Coming from a prominent family he hadn't needed to work through school, so there was no visible connection to the kind of jobs that Hanzo had worked after his stint in the army.

Being the thorough detective he was, Kakashi went through some of the published papers by Dr. Yamanaka. Some of it was physiological psychology, and went so far over his head he could feel the breeze as it went by. Some of it was criminally based and very interesting, and potentially useful.

None of it was suspicious. None of it was what he was looking for. But he was able to tick a name off the list, for now at least.

Time was no longer a variable that he was aware of. He was now chasing the idea of mapping all the community built playgrounds in Konoha that had used the same kind of poles. It was a far fetched, somewhat crazy sounding theory, but if he could use it somehow with the other evidence they were finding to narrow down a location… that was the ultimate goal.

While waiting for the city wide map to load on the overworked technology, Kakashi put his head in his hands. The frustration was beginning to seep into his system. It was beginning to plague him with every keystroke. Everyone else was working hard, everyone else was coming up with tangible results. Perhaps he wasn't at the top of his game.

Doubt followed swiftly on the heels of frustration.

With his eyes closed, he began replaying through the major events of this case from the beginning. From the moment they had been called to the first of Hanzo's found victims years ago. The sights, the sounds, the feel of the cool air on his skin. Approaching that mutilated and posed body with all the confidence of a rookie detective. It all came back to him so clearly as if watching a film behind his mind's eye.

Obito had been especially chipper that morning, despite the gruesome discovery before them. They had spent the entire car journey debating what would be an appropriate gift for Rin's upcoming birthday. But those details weren't important, they weren't what he should be focussed on.

They just wouldn't leave his head. And suddenly it was less like a movie and more like he was reliving every moment. He found himself in that field, in the cold, alone. And no matter how many times he shook his head and blinked his eyes, Kakashi found himself stuck in an all too familiar nightmare. One that was impossible to wake from, and just as impossible to forget.

It was the day that he'd searched for Rin, after losing her in the blink of an eye. It was like trying to catch a shadow in the dark of the night. The frantic search that had ensued felt just as palpable now as it did back then. Like his heart would beat a hole in his chest. When every seemingly possible area had been combed, all for nought, it had been Kakashi who refused to give up. He had stayed.

He could see it now, feel it in every anxious detail. The silence that had blanketed the area was the first hint at the tragedy that had befallen. Then the smell. That harsh metallic odour that cut through the air. Kakashi dreaded to find what his nose had been following, but at the same time he could not give up. Not only would Obito never be able to forgive him, but Kakashi would never be able to forgive himself.

Seeing that picture of Rin's last moments had refreshed the shock and trauma for him. Though his feet were moving he was no longer in control of them. He was no longer in control of anything. His punishment was to watch, horrified, as the mutilated and posed figure became recognizable as his friend and colleague. Kakashi hadn't needed to see her face to know it was her, and every ounce of strength left him. Suddenly there was the softness of wet grass on his knees. Whether he had knelt before her willingly or his legs simply gave out at the sight of her face, he would never know.

He had forced himself to look, to take in the enormity of his mistakes and the ugly consequences to his actions. That was where it ceased to be a retelling of the past.

Kakashi watched on, horrified, as the shape of Rin's face changed. It softened to something familiar, but he was only able to fully recognize her when the tips of auburn hair turned that telltale shade of pink. As the color spread, so did the sickening churning of his stomach, until his whole body thrummed with fear. Sakura was now the one tied to those poles, in a way so unnatural she could not be alive, and yet those emerald eyes opened.

And so did Kakashi's.

With a start, he found himself sitting in the safety of Tsunade's office. He'd fallen into a nightmare while working on this despicable case. He was wiping the remnants of sleep from his face, the wet drool mixed with fear and sweat, when his phone buzzed.

"Ha-Hatake."

"Finally. You sound like shit, Kakashi. Let me guess, you fell asleep on the desk."

Kakashi felt the tense energy he'd woken up with evaporating with each word she spoke. Sakura was fine, it was just a dream, an unfortunate and cruel nightmare. He found it easier to wake up now that he knew where he was, where she was. It was disconcerting that he could see daylight on the horizon. He'd slept for far too long.

"You got it in one, Sakura." It was like he'd temporarily forgotten how to speak, but he hadn't forgotten what was most important. "Have you found something?"

"Not me, Yamato. He's amazing, did you know he can identify vegetation by sight?" The excitement in her voice wasn't masked, which meant that something big had happened.

"Yes, I did know that. Does that mean what I think it means?"

Yamato's voice wasn't anywhere near as soothing as Sakura's, but Kakashi was still pleased to hear it all the same.

"I found no prints, no particulates, but the images themselves show vegetation consistent with 9,000 feet elevation above sea level. At that height you're really limited to the shrubs that will successfully reach adulthood…"

"Good work, Yamato, keep going…" That tingling sensation was prickling the back of Kakashi's neck, and despite his hatred of speaker phone, he flicked it on so that he could have both hands at the keyboard freely. He was now sure what he was looking for.

"Sakura was the one who spotted it in each photo, she's brilliant Kakashi, she's too good for you." He was speaking quickly and didn't pause for the usual rebuttal. "There's Creeping Juniper, Kakashi, Creeping fucking Juniper. That alongside the trees, _Poplus tremula_, _Crataegus ambigua, _I'm one hundred percent certain that all of these pictures were taken around the same area. It's mountainous, we have been trying to narrow down locations but—"

Sakura interrupted Yamato.

"- Focusing on areas between 8,500 to 9,000 feet above sea level in the general Konoha area, highlighting the areas of Hanzo's found victims, that would mean canvassing approximately 300 square miles— "

"We won't have to." This time it was Kakashi cutting them off. "If this new killer really desires to be as authentic as the original, he's going to use the same materials. There are three old and abandoned community playgrounds in Konoha Heights, the subdivision overlooking the old monument that was left derelict after the contractors went into financial hardship."

It was a long shot, but it was a chance, it was something. And Kakashi had a full team at his disposal.

"Kakashi, if you're serious, and you can get me pictures of those locations, I can potentially narrow it down even further. Small foliage samples, some of these shrubs vary depending on environmental factors, exposure to the elements and— "

"What makes you think he wants to be exactly like the original?" Sakura cut Yamato off. Kakashi was already gathering his things from the desk.

"I'm not an expert in profiling, but I've seen my fair share of it, Sakura. And I'm willing to bet that whoever this psycho is, not only do they have direct access to Hanzo, they'll have access to _all _the original puzzle pieces. We'll start with canvassing those locations to see if they fit with the evidence we have. I'll send Genma and Gai to pick you up, Haruno. Meanwhile, Yamato, I need you to do what you do best. Follow the threads, send pictures of the victims to Shizune to match up with the known timeline, see if we can ID all the extras."

There was a pause, silence, or perhaps it was just Kakashi's selective hearing as he concentrated on the path ahead of him.

"And where will you be?" Sakura's concerned tone broke through the fugue.

He contemplated keeping the information to himself, if it was necessary to tell her what he planned to do next. But he knew what it was to lament in the unknown of not being privy to the location of your trusted partner. And while he had forgiven Obito for not telling him where he'd been on that fateful day, it was only because Kakashi had no other choice. At this moment, he did have a choice.

"I'm going to have another friendly chat with our incarcerated psychopath. See if I can't shake anymore leads out of him."

"Do you really think that wise, Kakashi? Can any good come from talking to that madman?" Yamato now sounded as concerned as Sakura.

A serial killer's world is a delicate balance. On one side, the threat of capture. On the other, a desperate and insatiable need to publicize their crimes. It was Kakashi's job now to tip the scales in their favor.

"I don't know, but I have to try."

With that he hung up. In what he would later consider his best ever Tsunade impersonation, he blustered from that office like a storm, issuing orders to any poor soul who happened to be in the vicinity. If this was the intensity that Tsunade operated at then he owed her more than just an apology.

Genma and Gai took their respective orders well enough. He could trust them to work together, and trust that Sakura would be able to keep them in line.

Right now, Kakashi had bigger fish to fry.

Before he headed out the door, there was one last call to be made, to the man who could unlock all doors. If he was quick enough he just might be able to save another life.


End file.
